Harmony
by Whispering-Willow08
Summary: A kekkei genkai is as dominant as a genetic trait can be, so what would happen if two of them were to combine? The Uchiha's and the Hyuuga's are about to find out.
1. Suspended in Gaffa

**This is the sequel to my other story "Their Fate". I suppose you don't actually have to read it to understand everything here, but it would be helpful. **

**Also note that this story takes place two and a half years after "Their Fate" ended.**

**Enjoy!**

"_Suddenly my feet are feet of mud._

_It all goes slo-mo._

_I don't know why I'm crying._

_Am I suspended in gaffa?"_

_-Ra Ra Riot_

A light breeze brushed sixteen year-old Uchiha Hideki's hair out of his eyes as he looked down at his girlfriend of two and a half years Yagami Karli, who had asked him to meet her at the park an hour ago. Hideki was a head taller than her, and he always had to look down in order to be able to look her in the eye. He had no idea why she had requested they meet so suddenly, usually their plans together were well-planned out ahead of time. Another breeze rolled through the park, creating waves in the grass. They had been standing there for nearly five minutes, and Karli still had not spoken. Hideki slid his hands into his pockets. He sensed that something was off, but he couldn't figure out just what it was.

"What's wrong?" Hideki finally asked. "What is it, Kitten?" He used her nickname knowing it would make her smile. The nickname was exclusive to only Hideki and Karli's father. She had gotten it when she was four years old and her father had brought home a new kitten. Karli had loved the kitten and had decided that she wanted to be just like the tiny animal. She had spent countless hours teaching herself how to purr just like the cat, and she had gotten so good at it that her father began calling her 'Kitten', and the name had stuck.

Karli fiddled her hands and lowered her vibrant green eyes to the ground. Her thick brown curls spilled over her shoulders at the movement, and she quickly brushed them back behind her. She inhaled deeply, unsure of how to approach the situation. After a few more moments of silent contemplation, she finally decided it would be easiest to just come out and say it.

Karli raised her eyes back up to Hideki, feeling them begin to fill with tears. She had promised herself she wouldn't cry, but it seemed her body had other plans. She took in a deep, shuddering breath and, as the tears began to spill over, said, "I'm pregnant."

Hideki's jaw fell slack as he stared down at her. The world swam away from his vision and suddenly, he wasn't sure if he was going to pass out or throw up. His heart began to pound as a million broken and fragmented thoughts raced through his mind. Each second that ticked by felt like an eternity and he was sure that if he tried to speak, no sound would come out.

"Please say something," Karli begged, fully crying now. She had clasped her hands together and pressed them to her lips, trying to control her sobs.

"I-I," Hideki started, then clamped his mouth shut. He took in a sharp breath and tried again. "Are you sure?"

Karli nodded. She lowered her eyes back to the ground as her sobs made her shoulders shake.

Unsure of what else to do, Hideki pulled her into a tight hug, staring blankly out at nothing as she cried into his shoulder. Thankfully, the park was nearly empty in the fading summer light, and the few people that did remain there were too far away to see what was going on.

"What do we do?" Hideki finally asked, after several minutes of silence passed.

"I don't know," she mumbled, her voice muffled by his neck.

Hideki gently rested his chin on top of her head, inhaling the sweet scent of her shampoo. The tried to think clearly, tried to push all thoughts of running and hiding away, but they kept coming back with greater force. Finally, a clear and rational thought came into his mind.

He pulled back from the hug and gripped her shoulders. "Let's talk to Leiji," he suggested. His sister was four years older and married to Hyuuga Hachi, the son of Hyuuga Neji and Tenten. Although Hideki would never admit it to anybody, he loved and looked up to his sister more than anybody. If anyone would have the answer to this situation, it would be her.

"All right," Karli agreed, sniffing as she wiped her tears away with the palm of her hand. She had become very close to Leiji in the time that she and Hideki had been together, and, as an only child, had recently began seeing her as a big sister figure.

Hand-in-hand, they began walking across Konoha to the spacious two-bedroom apartment Leiji and Hachi shared. By the time they arrived, it was nearly dark outside by the time arrived. The sky was painted a deep purple, and the first glints of diamond stars were beginning to appear. They entered the building and made their way up to the second floor, where the apartment was located.

Hideki stood by the door, hesitating for a moment, before reaching up and banging on it with more force than he intended. Karli stood behind her, her hands clasped at her chest, looking ready to bolt at any minute.

The door flung open and Leiji stood in the archway. She had not changed much since her marriage. Her thick black hair still hung past her shoulders and her ebony eyes still sparkled with Uchiha pride. She wore a loose-necked red shirt that fell off her left shoulder, showing a thick black strap from her tank top underneath, and tight black yoga pants. Not even her style had changed; she still wore Uchiha colors without even realizing it.

"Hey guys," she greeted pleasantly, "What's-." She froze when she noticed their solemn expressions and her eyes widened in alarm. "What's wrong?" she asked as she quickly ushered them inside. She led them to the couch in the living room and motioned for them to sit.

Hideki nearly fell into the couch, feeling as though the weight of a thousand years of suffering were resting on his shoulders. Karli took a seat beside him, sitting on the very edge of the couch, her back straight and her hands folded neatly in her lap. She could have easily passed for a prim and proper young lady, had her eyes not been swollen and red from crying, and her lower lip trembling uncontrollably.

"What's going on, guys? You're starting to freak me out a little," Leiji said as she lowered herself into the recliner across from the couch. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and clasping her hands together.

Hideki sighed heavily, glancing sideways at Karli, who had her vision locked on a picture of Leiji and Hachi at their wedding, which hung on the wall across of them. She appeared to be frozen, not really seeing the picture she appeared to be staring at, but a million miles away in her own world. Hideki realized she wasn't going to be saying anything anytime soon.

"She's pregnant," he said bluntly, the words sounding much harsher than he had intended. Beside him, Karli cringed.

Leiji exhaled slowly, a low whistle escaping her lips. She appeared deep in thought for a moment before saying, "Well, obviously you need to tell mom and dad."

"I know that," Hideki snapped, although it was the last thing he wanted to hear. Karli continued to tremble beside him, and he tentatively placed a hand on her knee, trying to calm her and himself.

"Soon," Leiji added, ignoring her brother's harshness. "Mom will be able to help you, Karli, with getting a doctor's appointment and things like that. It's something that should be done as soon as possible."

Karli only nodded.

Groaning, Hideki pulled his hand through his thick hair and looked back at Karli. "So, what? You want to tell them like, tomorrow?"

"That's a good idea," Leiji put in, her voice calm. "Maybe you could invite Karli's father over so they can all be told at once. That way you two can just get it over with."

Hideki paled. He had not thought of what Jin, Karli's father, would have to say about this situation.

Leiji snickered. "Hadn't thought of that, huh?" she asked with a good-natured smile on her face. She glanced from Hideki, who looked like he was about to vomit, to Karli, who looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Hey, guys, come on, cheer up," Leiji urged. "It'll work out."

"Have you ever had this happen to _you_?" Hideki asked vehemently.

"Well, no-."

"Then how do you know?" he challenged.

"Things always work out," Leiji replied simply. "Just look at Karin. She's a perfect example." Uzumaki Karin was the daughter of Naruto and Hinata, and the hokage's only child. She was also Leiji's best friend, and they had been that way since birth. Karin had a two-year old son named Kimaru, who seemed to be the most energetic toddler on the planet. His father, Shinbo, had been killed on an S-rank mission a month before he was born, and Karin was left to raise their child alone. Although she had been upset by Shinbo's death, the always bubbly Karin quickly perked back up and now lived happily with Kimaru in the apartment across from Leiji and Hachi.

"I guess," Hideki muttered, though he did sound thoroughly convinced.

Karli, on the other hand, looked slightly calmer than before. _At least I won't have to raise this baby alone,_ she thought as she glanced at Hideki, who looked as though he wanted to be as far away as physically possible. She gulped. _Well, I hope not. _

"You guys will be okay," Leiji reassured them, smiling encouragingly.

"Hn," Hideki hummed as he stood, his features still clouded and dark. "Come on, Karli, we should go."

"Okay," Karli agreed, standing. "I should have been home an hour ago. I promised my dad I'd have dinner with him."

"I'll walk you there," Hideki said, holding out his hand. Karli took it gratefully, trying to ignore the far-off look etched into Hideki's eyes.

"Bye, guys," Leiji said as the two walked into the hallway of the apartment building. Once she was sure they were gone, she bolted across the hall to where Karin lived and banged on the door, waiting impatiently for her to answer.

Karin threw open the door with a grinning Kimaru sitting happily on her shoulders. His blonde hair stood up in crazy spikes, just like Naruto's, and his lavender eyes held the same constant excitement as Karin's.

"Hey Leiji!" Karin said happily as Kimaru pulled at her hair.

"Hi Leelee," Kimaru attempted to echo, using his own variation of her name. Neither Karin nor Leiji could ever get the toddler to say '_Leiji'_. She was always '_Leelee'_ to him.

"Hey," Leiji greeted as she stepped into the apartment, reaching up to tickle Kimaru's belly as she did so. He giggled madly and wrapped his arms around his mother's head.

"What brings you here so close to bedtime?" Karin asked in good nature.

"It doesn't look like bedtime to me," Leiji commented, eying the peanut butter smeared on Kimaru's chin and the jelly stained t-shirt he was wearing.

"We were trying to have a snack," Karin giggled. "Like always, Kimaru just played with it."

"Fun!" he agreed, clapping his hands together.

"Just let me get him to bed, I'll be right back," Karin said as she turned and walked into Kimaru's bedroom.

Leiji seated herself on Karin's couch, glancing around as she waited. Karin's apartment had the exact same floor plan as her own. The only difference was that Karin had decorated hers with bright, vibrant colors and knick-knacks while Leiji and Hachi's was plain and simple, decorated with practical items.

Finally, Karin emerged from Kimaru's bedroom and flopped down on the couch next to her best friend. She ran her fingers through her hair and giggled. "I have no idea where that kid gets all of this energy!"

"I have no idea," Leiji replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"So what's up?" Karin asked, propping her feet up on the coffee and raising an eyebrow.

"Hideki knocked Karli up."

"_What?_" Karin nearly shrieked, her eyes widening in shock. "When did this happen?"

Leiji shrugged. "I don't know. They just came by and told me. It looked like they had just found out."

"Wow," Karin mused. "How are they taking it?"

Sighing, Leiji leaned back and added her own feet to Karin's coffee table. "Karli looked stable enough, just terrified out of her mind. But Hideki…"

"You don't think he's going to do anything stupid, do you?" Karin asked.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Leiji admitted. "Will you help me keep an eye on him? I want to make sure he doesn't flake out on her."

"Of course," Karin agreed, nodding solemnly.

Leiji sighed, leaning her head her head back and closing her eyes. "Poor kids, it's going to be a long nine months."

-0-

By mid-afternoon the next day, Sasuke and Sakura, along with Jin had gathered in the Uchiha's living room. All three of the adults were wondering why Hideki and Karli had requested that they meet that day. They all stared at the two, who stood side-by-side across from the couch where the adults were seated. Hideki's eyes drooped from a sleepless night while Karli looked as though she felt rather ill.

"What's going on, Kitten?" Jin asked his daughter, and she began to feel tears threatening to fall again.

"Yeah," Sakura added, "I need to be back at the hospital soon. What's so important?"

Sasuke simply stared. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Look," Hideki began, scratching at the back of his head nervously, "we kind of have a problem." He glanced at Karli for help, hoping she would we join in and save him from doing all of the talking.

Suddenly, Karli burst into tears so strong she nearly doubled over with the force they came with. "I-I'm s-s-suh-sorry, d-dad!" she cried, her voice breaking as she struggled to get the words out.

"Sorry for what?" Jin asked, alarmed. He stood quickly and rushed to Karli's side to comfort her. He was a single father, had been since Karli was three and his wife had died from a deadly cancer that had eaten her life away in less than a year. "What's wrong?" he said as he smoothed her hair with his hand, trying his best to comfort her.

Sakura stared in confusion at the scene while Sasuke crossed his arms, glaring at Hideki, his cold eyes seemingly boring into his soul. He knew exactly what was happening. "She's pregnant, isn't she?" Sasuke scoffed, his voice cold.

Hideki winced and Karli began to sob harder, her chest hitching with each breath.

Jin pulled back from his daughter slowly, lifting her chin up with his fingers to get her to look him in the eye. "Is that true, Kitten?" he asked, his voice numb.

Karli nodded weakly, and a thick silence settled over the room. No one moved, and even everything outside of the big picture window seemed to be frozen in time.

Sakura was the one to break the silence when she suddenly jumped to her feet and began clapping giddily. "Oh, a baby!" she cried in excitement. "How exciting!"

"_What_?" Sasuke and Jin nearly yelled at the same time. Sasuke stared incredulously at his wife, wondering if the news had made her mind snap. Hideki stood with his mouth gaping wide open, wondering the same thing. Karli simply stared, pressing herself into the safety of her father's chest.

"Well of course it's exciting," Sakura said in her defense. "Having a baby around the house again would be great. I could work less hours at the hospital so I can be home more to help take care of it. It'll be fun to be a grandmother!"

"Sakura, we are thirty-seven," Sasuke deadpanned.

"So?" Sakura retorted. "After Kyo, we couldn't have any more children anyway, so a grandchild is naturally the next best thing." Sasuke winced at this. When Kyo was born, Sakura had suffered from a rare condition called Placenta Increta, where the placenta attaches too deeply into the uterine wall. Sakura had been informed after Kyo was safely delivered through caesarean delivery that another pregnancy would kill her and the baby. "Besides, they are only a year younger than we were when we had Leiji."

"So…you're letting us keep the child?" Karli asked in amazement. She had been sure that all of the adults would agree that adoption was the right thing to do. After all, Karli and her father lived in a tiny two-bedroom home in the poorer part of Konoha with barely enough room for the two of them.

"It is an Uchiha child," Sakura explained, a faint smile touching her features. "It needs to be raised as an Uchiha. No one else can do that."

"I-I see," Karli stammered. "But my house is-."

"Then move in with us," Sakura urged. She glanced at Sasuke, who simply nodded in agreement. "Since Leiji moved out, her room is just sitting there, unused. It would be perfect for the baby, since its right next to Hideki's room."

Karli looked up at her father, uncertain of what to say. Jin simply sighed, running his hand down his face. The disappointment was clearly etched into even the smallest feature of his face. "It's the most logical thing to do," he said after a while.

"It's decided then," Sakura said, grinning from ear to ear as she brushed invisible dirt off of her hospital uniform. "Come by the hospital tomorrow around nine, Karli," Sakura said, "we'll see about getting you an ultrasound."

-0-

Later that night, just as Sasuke was about to drift off into sleep, he was suddenly awaked by the sound of Sakura's voice.

"You know, it's funny," she said, turning to face Sasuke, her head still nestled in her pillow.

"What's funny?" Sasuke asked tiredly.

"I always thought that Leiji and Hachi would be the first to have children," she admitted.

Sasuke winced. He had finally warmed to the idea of his only daughter being married to a Hyuuga, but the thought of them having children almost repulsed him. "They won't be having children."

"What?" Sakura said, surprised. "What makes you say that?"

"More like they _can't _have children," Sasuke restated.

"Why?" Sakura asked, thoroughly confused.

"It's because of both of their kekkei genkai," Sasuke explained. "The Sharingan is a dominant trait, as is the Byakugon. Dominant traits always overtake the recessive ones without a problem, that's why none of our children have pink hair or green eyes, like you. The problem is that the Sharingan and Byakugon are both such strong traits that they would destroy the genes in the process of," he winced once more, trying not to think of Leiji as he said this, "conception. A child would not be able to grow, it would just die."

Sakura shook her head and her hair fanned out around her in a pink wave. "You're wrong, Sasuke," she said. "One of the traits would overpower the other, and the child would be born with either the Sharingan or the Byakugon. Traits like that can't just combine, or destroy each other. One would simply be more dominant than the other."

Sasuke sighed deeply. "Kekkei genkai are different from normal traits, you know that, Sakura."

Sakura crossed her arms indignantly, pouting like a child. "Well, if they do have children- which they _will_- then we'll see who's right!" She huffed and then threw herself back down on the bed, burying her face in her pillow.

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke lay back down and closed his eyes, grateful for the chance to sleep.

-0-

Leiji sat on her couch cross-legged and in her pajamas, flipping through channels on the television and waiting for Hachi to get back. He had been away on a mission for the past week, and was due back at any minute.

As if in cue, the lock in the front door rattled and clicked, and Hachi strolled nonchalantly into the room. "Hey," he greeted. "Anything exciting happen while I was gone?"

"I'm going to be an aunt," Leiji replied in a monotone.

Hachi laughed as he seated himself beside his wife. "What, did Kyo knock up one of his bitches?" he asked, referring to the youngest and shyest of the Uchiha children. He had no idea that Leiji was being serious.

Leiji shook her head, "Karli's pregnant."

Hachi blinked. "Oh, you're serious."

"Yeah, I'm serious," Leiji said with a sigh.

Hachi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "How strange. One would expect us to have children first."

"Children?" Leiji raised an eyebrow, giving her husband an odd look. "I don't want children."

"Not even one?" Hachi asked playfully as he leaned over and gave her a kiss.

"Maybe one," Leiji snickered, leaning back as Hachi began kissing her cheek in a playful way. "In about ten years!"

"Why not now?" Hachi asked, tickling her sides lightly.

"Because," Leiji laughed as he tickled her, unable to think of a reason.

"Then we should try now!" Hachi concluded as he continued to tickle her.

"Fine!" Leiji continued to laugh. "Fine, we can try now, okay? But just once!" she broke up in giggles before continuing. "But if this one time doesn't work, then we wait ten years, deal?"

"Deal!" Hachi agreed happily as he quit tickling her and began kissing her more deeply.

**Ugh this chapter is long! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, because I enjoyed **_**writing**_** it! Let me know what you think!**


	2. The Less I Know

**So, I was bored and decided to look up the meanings of the names for my characters. It turns out "Leiji" means "eternal samurai". Seems appropriate. It turns out "Tai" and "Hachi" are names more commonly used in females. Oops. **

"_Caught between the stars and underground,_

_I'm climbing up just to get back down._

_My lips are moving but make no sound,_

_Don't leave me here this way."_

_-Raine Maida_

Two weeks passed by easily enough. Sakura had taken Karli to the hospital with her immediately after hearing the news and discovered that she had just entered her second month of pregnancy. Now Karli was busy packing her things (there wasn't much), and preparing to move into the Uchiha household. Her father was not happy with this, and she didn't blame him. Karli knew her father was upset with her, and she knew that he was also upset because he couldn't pay for her medical bills. Jin's pride had been bruised when Sasuke tried to work out a deal with him, knowing Karli and her father were poor.

In the end, it was decided that Sasuke and Sakura would pay for Karli's medical bills, after all, the Uchiha clan was among one of the richest families in Konoha. However, it was also decided that Hideki and Karli would be on their own to pay for everything the baby would need. Sasuke wanted to make the two pay rent to live with him, but Sakura had quickly talked him into dismissing the idea.

Karli had immediately switched positions, and was now teaching the seven-year olds at the academy. Hideki kept his position as a chuunin, but they both knew their combined income would be nowhere near enough what was going to be needed.

It was this troubling thought that had brought Hideki to the hokage tower. He stood in Naruto's office, waiting impatiently for him to come back from his lunch break, his arms crossed in frustration.

Hideki had not been his usual carefree self lately. He spoke less and seemed to be constantly looking for a way out. He would never admit it, but he was terrified. The thought of having to take care of a small, helpless infant was something that made his stomach churn. Even thinking about Karli moving into his room with him any day now made him nauseous. This was a new feeling for him. He used to get excited knowing he was going to see Karli, and he planned their time together carefully. Now, he suddenly didn't want to see her, or look into her sparkling green eyes, knowing she was carrying his child.

The door of the office slid open and Hideki whirled around to face Naruto, who had a cup of instant ramen in his hand.

"Oh, hey Hideki," Naruto greeted, his mouth full of noodles. He took a seat behind his desk and swallowed. "What are you doing here?"

Hideki sighed and scratched at the back of his head. In that moment he looked so much like Sasuke that Naruto couldn't help but break into a huge smile. "Hey, is this about Karli?" he asked as the Uchiha's eyes widened at the mention of his girlfriend's name.

"Sort of," he admitted. Naruto was like an uncle to him, and he had no problem admitting his troubles to the energetic blonde. "Look, Naruto, I'm not making near enough money, and neither is Karli. What other options do I have? I can't think of anything I can do."

"Well," Naruto started, placing a hand on his chin, "I don't think Sasuke would be too happy with me for telling you this, but the Jounin exams are starting in five months. Becoming a Jounin would greatly increase your income." He broke into a huge grin and laughed, "But you know, your mom will probably just buy the kid everything it needs and spoil it to death!"

Hideki rolled his eyes. He wished that were true, but Sakura had already informed him that she would be doing no such thing. Finally he held his hand out to Naruto and said, "Give me the application."

Naruto's expression suddenly turned serious. "Are you sure you want to this? You know that more than half of the participants don't even make it out of the exam alive, right?"

Suddenly the exam began to sound even better to the young Uchiha's ears. He nodded, trying not to seem eager. Sighing, Naruto opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a slip of paper. He placed it in Hideki's waiting hand and gave him a solemn look. "You are doing this for the right reasons, right?"

"Yeah," Hideki replied absently, unsure of what the 'right reasons' were. He turned on his heel and began walking towards the door when Naruto spoke again.

"Like father, like son, right?"

When Hideki glanced over his shoulder he saw that Naruto was grinning. With narrowed eyes he asked, "What are you talking about?"

Naruto gulped, looking as if he had just gotten caught stealing money out of his mother's purse. "Oh, you didn't know."

"Know _what?"_ Hideki demanded, fully facing Naruto now.

Rubbing the back of his head nervously, Naruto said in a shaky voice, "Well, uh, you know…your mom was, like, pregnant with Leiji and stuff before she and your dad got married."

Without another word, Hideki turned on his heel and ran from the hokage's office, his fists curled and his eyes clouded with rage.

-0-

Meanwhile, Sasuke stood near the front door of the house, fiddling with the thermostat, which had broken in the middle of the night. The house had felt like an oven, defenseless to the extreme midsummer heat, since early that morning, and sweat poured down his face as he worked, his frustration growing.

The front door opened and Leiji poked her head into the house. She grinned when she saw her dad nearly ready to rip the thermostat from the wall and stepped inside. "Hi, dad," she greeted as she slid her white-rimmed sunglasses with nearly black lenses up to rest on top of her head.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in greeting, too distracted to actually acknowledge his daughter.

"It's hot in here," she said, waving her hand in front of her face as a makeshift fan. "What happened?"

"It broke," Sasuke replied, replacing the little door over the thermostat as he realized he would have to set his pride aside and just call a repair technician. "What are you doing here?"

"Mom said there was a box of my stuff in the attic," Leiji said, feeling the heat of the house sweep over her. Sweat broke out on her brow and she quickly wiped it away. "I just came to get to it." She glanced around the house, noting its unusual quietness. "Where is everyone?"

"They all left to get out of the heat," Sasuke scoffed, too busy thinking of who he would call to fix the problem to notice that his daughter's eyes had become cloudy and she was swaying lightly from side-to-side.

"I-I see," Leiji nearly panted, and as her vision swam away from her, Sasuke finally noticed that something was wrong.

Reacting on impulse, he grabbed her underneath her arms just as she started to go down. "Leiji," he said, nearly demanding a response from her. But her eyes were closed and her breathing sounded shallow. "Damn it, answer me!" He waited for a moment, and when she still gave no response he lifted her carefully and laid her down on the couch. The movement brought her to semi-consciousness and she moaned as she moved a hand to her head.

Sasuke disappeared into the kitchen to pour her a glass of cold water, and when he returned she had managed to pull herself into a sitting position. He handed her the glass of water and she took it gratefully. As she sipped at it, Sasuke crouched down until he was at eye-level with her, resting his elbows on his knees.

"What the hell just happened to you?" he asked. She had never fainted, not once in her twenty years.

"I don't know," she murmured, her voice sounding sleepy. "I just got dizzy."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at this. Clearly something was the matter with her, he just couldn't think of what it could possibly be.

Just as he was about to speak, the front door burst open and a very enraged Hideki barged into the room. He stormed right up to his father and, without even noticing his sister's presence, nearly shouted, "You fucking liar!"

Sasuke stood and crossed his arms, his lip twitching slightly at the way his son had just spoken to him. "What the hell is your problem?"

"My problem," Hideki snarled, his voice almost a low growl, "is that you go around acting like a self-righteous prick about this situation when you had the same problem yourself!" As Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, Hideki continued, "Yeah, Naruto told me about Leiji!"

"What about me?" Leiji asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I can't believe you and mom have been _lying _to us our whole lives!" Hideki went on, not even hearing his sister's question. His face was nearly red with anger, and his fists clenched and unclenched. The Jounin exam application fell from his grip and floated lazily to the floor.

"Lying about _what?"_ Sasuke shouted back, his face darkening.

Leiji fell back on the couch, running her hands over her face, groaning, suddenly feeling very sick.

"You got mom pregnant before you guys were married, and you have the nerve to hide something like that from me even now, when I'm in the same situation!"

"We never hid it from any of you," Sasuke said, his voice suddenly calm. "If you had sat back and actually done the math, you'd be able to figure it out for yourself."

"What?" Hideki asked, the anger fading slightly from his voice.

"What month did your mom and I get married?" Sasuke challenged.

"In February," Hideki replied, crossing his arms.

"And when was Leiji born?"

"In August," Hideki paused as realization suddenly washed over his features, "of the same year." Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at him as he turned to face his sister. "Did you know about this, Leiji?"

Leiji nodded from her place on the couch, one arm covering her eyes. Every time she opened them the dizziness would come back at full force. She had figured that out years ago, she just never bothered to bring it up. The way she saw it her parents were married now, and that was all that mattered.

"And for your information," Sasuke said as he turned back to his son, "we found out about the pregnancy a couple of days before the wedding, we were getting married regardless." Sasuke gave Hideki a look and he lowered his head, getting the message. Sasuke crossed his arms again and narrowed his eyes. "Now, I believe you have a few things to apologize for."

Hideki kept his eyes plastered to his shoes, and just as he was about to mutter a barely audible 'sorry', Leiji ran past them both in a blur, hand clamped over her mouth. The two men watched in stunned silence as they saw her dash into the bathroom.

She came out a moment later, one hand brushing her lips and wordlessly lay back down on the couch.

"I'm going to get Hachi to come get you," Sasuke deadpanned as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and stepped into the next room.

"What's wrong with you?" Hideki asked, raising an eyebrow. "You're never sick."

"I guess I am now," Leiji scoffed. But to her surprise her vision began to clear and the nausea disappeared as quickly as it had come. She pulled herself back into a sitting position, trying to see if the feeling would return. It didn't. "I guess I just ate something bad," she mused as she swung her legs over the side of the couch and stood, stretching carefully.

"That was a fast recovery," Hideki pointed out, looking genuinely concerned.

"I think my health should be the least of your concern," Leiji snickered, ruffling his hair, an old childhood habit of hers. She always loved to annoy her baby brother.

Sasuke reentered the room and raised his eyebrow at the sight. "Weren't you just sick?" he asked.

"I feel fine now," Leiji told her father, smiling. "It was probably just the heat and something bad I ate."

"Hn," Sasuke hummed as he knelt to pick up the piece of paper that had fallen from the floor. As he began to read it, Hideki visibly paled. After only a few sentences, Sasuke raised his eyes over the paper and gave his oldest son a menacing glare. "The _Jounin _exams?" he growled. "You're going to take the _Jounin_ exams?"

"Well, yeah," Hideki replied quietly, kicking the tip of his foot against the carpet.

"That's dangerous shit," Leiji commented, ignoring her father's glare at her language. "I wouldn't do it, Hideki. Not now."

"I don't have much of a choice, now do I?" Hideki scoffed as he swiped the paper from Sasuke's hands.

"What do you mean by that?" Sasuke questioned.

"Karli's hardly making anything as a teacher, and a Chuunin barely makes more than a Genin when it comes to missions," Hideki explained.

Leiji's eyes widened at his explanation. "Hideki, if you need money, I can-."

"No, don't help him," Sasuke interrupted, shaking his head. He turned to Hideki. "You got yourself into this, now you have to pay on your own." He plucked the paper back from Hideki's hands. "But find another way."

"This no other way!" Hideki argued, nearly fuming. "Naruto's the one who gave me the application, I know the risks. I'm going to do it, and you can't stop me!"

"Fine," Sasuke scoffed, dropping the paper to the floor. "You're the man now, aren't you? Do what you want." Without another word, Sasuke turned on his heel and retreated to the basement, where his office was located, slamming the door behind him.

"Oh, he's pissed," Leiji pointed out.

Hideki simply shrugged. "Whatever," he mumbled, leaning down to retrieve the application. He began to ascend the stairs to his room, then paused. "Hey, Leiji?"

"Hmm?" Leiji hummed as she settled herself back on the couch to wait for Hachi.

"Will you, uh," Hideki shifted nervously from foot to foot as he spoke, "help me with…you know, training for the exam and stuff?"

An airy laugh escaped Leiji's lips. "Sure, Hideki, I'll help you train." She mentally went through her schedule for the next couple of days, not noticing her brother brighten at her promise. "How about the day after tomorrow?"

"Okay," he said, trying not to sound too eager. He ran the rest of the way up the stairs to his room in a much better mood than before.

As Leiji waited alone for Hachi, her other two younger brothers burst through the front door. Tai, who was fourteen, and Kyo, who was ten, came in panting, nearly collapsing on the floor.

"Whoa, what were you two up to?" Leiji asked, clearly amused.

Kyo looked up and grinned at the sight of his sister. "Racing," he declared. He ran up to her and threw his arms around her shoulders. "Guess what!"

"What?" Leiji asked as she returned the hug. Kyo truly was extremely shy, but around people he knew, it was like he was a whole different person.

"I'm graduating from the academy in a month!" he said.

"That's great!" Leiji exclaimed, "You'll finally be a legitimate ninja!" Kyo's face appeared to fall at this comment, and she quirked a questioning eyebrow at this. "What is it?"

Kyo plastered another grin on his face, but this one seemed more forced. "Nothing," he said, "I'm just…excited."

"You should be," Leiji replied, playfully punching him the arm. "Dad's going to be so excited for you. You should go tell him."

"Okay," Kyo nodded in agreement, running to the basement where he knew his father would be.

Leiji turned her attention to Tai, who was taking a deep breath of mist from his inhaler. "What's happening in your life?"

Tai shrugged, shoving his inhaler back into his pocket. "Nothing."

"Really?" Leiji asked. "I can think of something."

"What's that?" Tai asked nonchalantly.

"Well, you know how Hachi is in charge of genin squads?" Tai nodded. "And how sometimes he hears rumors about his former students?" Another nod. "Well, apparently Miss Nara Kisa might have a bit of a thing for you." Leiji smirked, noting her brother's slight blush at the mention of the blonde's name. Kisa was the oldest child of Shikamaru and Ino Nara, and with her blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes, any boy would consider himself lucky to even be in her mere presence.

"That's stupid," Tai deadpanned, and without another word, he turned his back to Leiji and climbed up the stairs, disappearing into his room.

Leiji rolled her eyes as the front door opened once more and Hachi poked his head in. "Hey," he greeted as he stepped further into the room. "You don't look so sick to me."

"That's because I'm not," Leiji replied simply as she stood from her perch on the couch. "It must have been something I ate. And speaking of food, I'm starving."

-0-

Back in their apartment on the other side of Konoha, Leiji opened the wrapper of a chocolate bar and took a large bite. Hachi raised his eyebrow at this. If there was one thing that everyone in the village knew about the former Uchiha, it was that she hated chocolate with a fiery passion.

"I think you really are sick," Hachi said, half-joking. "Either that or pregnant."

Leiji nearly choked on the chocolate in her mouth. "What makes you say that?"

"Well," Hachi said as he began to list things on his fingers, "you passed out for seemingly no reason, threw up then felt perfectly fine, and now you're eating chocolate, something I know you hate."

Leiji's eyes widened in shock as if she suddenly just realized what she had been eating. "Ew!" she cried, dropping the candy to the floor and holding her hands up. She turned her gaze back to Hachi. "That was just some sort of fluke," she reasoned. "It doesn't mean I'm pregnant," her nose wrinkled in disgust at the last word.

"Are you so sure about that?" Hachi asked as he retrieved the candy from the ground and bit into it himself.

"Yes," Leiji declared confidently, then began to go over a calendar in her mind. Her confidence faltered. "No… Fuck."

Hachi couldn't help but start laughing. "I guess we won't be waiting ten years, huh?"

Leiji crossed her arms defiantly. "It could still be a mistake!"

Hachi threw an arm around his wife's shoulders and grinned. "I suppose we'll figure that out tomorrow, when we take a little trip to the drug store."

**My fingers hurt…but I enjoyed writing this. I'm trying to make it go by fast, because this story goes through several years, but I don't want it to go by **_**too **_**fast. Hopefully I'm balancing that okay…Anyway, read and review! I love hearing what you think! **


	3. Across the Universe

**So before I begin I'd like to give a special shout-out to LesxMisxLuverx10, who has been a faithful reader pretty much since I started writing fanfics. You guys should go check out her story, A Father's Bonds, which is a SasuSaku family fic, and a downright adorable one too!**

**Anyway, enjoy! **

"_Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup,_

_They sliver while they pass; they slip away across the universe."_

_-The Beatles_

The stick was mocking her. This was the only thought going through Leiji's head as she knelt in front of the toilet, fighting off another overpowering wave of nausea. That stupid little white stick with it's stupid little pink plus sign still sat on the counter, even though nearly twenty-four hours had passed since she had taken it. She could practically hear it laughing at her.

Hachi opened the door a crack and peeked inside. "_Again?" _he asked, alarmed, as he knelt behind his wife and pulled her hair back. "This is happening a bit more than normal, don't you think?" Concern flashed in his lavender eyes as he spoke.

Shakily, Leiji managed to get back on her feet and wipe at her mouth with the back of her hand. "I don't know what's normal," she croaked, reaching for the glass of water on the counter. She began to rinse her mouth out slowly, trying not to move too fast lest the sick feeling wash over her again. She had nearly lived their apartment's only bathroom the past few days, ever since she had passed out at her parent's house.

"I don't think this is normal, at all," Hachi said, concern edging his voice. "You _are _going to see your mom at the hospital today, right?"

Leiji nodded miserably.

"And you'll tell her how much you've been sick?" Hachi continued to question.

"I will," Leiji promised. None of her family had heard the news yet, and she was sure her mother would practically throw a party in the middle of her shift.

"Good," Hachi said, stretching his arms. "I have to go train my squad; I was supposed to meet them ten minutes ago." He paused and glanced at her up and down. "Are you sure you're feeling all right now?"

"For now," Leiji sighed. She hated that the nausea she felt came in strong and unpredictable waves.

"All right," Hachi said, clearly uncomfortable with idea of leaving her alone. He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Call me if anything happens, okay?"

"Okay," Leiji agreed.

Feeling slightly better about the situation, Hachi turned on his heel and left to apartment. Once the front door clicked shut, Leiji quickly peeled off her ratty old t-shirt with the Uchiha crest on it and pulled on a red tank top and black yoga pants. She inhaled deeply, waiting to see if another wave of nausea would hit her, and when it didn't she left the apartment and began heading toward the hospital.

It took about fifteen minutes to walk to the hospital from her apartment, and halfway there Leiji had to stop so she could vomit behind a bush. She grimaced as she stood back up, wiped her mouth the back of her hand, and took note of all of the villagers who had witnessed the event giving her half-concerned and half-disgusted looks. She simply shot them the infamous Uchiha glare and continued on her way.

When she arrived at the hospital, Leiji noticed a familiar brunette ascending the stairs to the main entrance and walked briskly toward her.

"Hey, Karli," she greeted when she had caught up to her.

Shocked by Leiji's sudden appearance, Karli whirled around to face her with wide eyes. "Oh, hi."

"Got an appointment with my mom?" Leiji asked as casually as possible.

Karli looked down at her feet and nodded.

"Do you…mind if I tag along?"

Karli glanced back up at Leiji as they walked through the hospital's main doors together. "Sure," she said. "But why?"

Leiji pretended to be fascinated with a lone wheelchair resting in the corner of the waiting area. "Oh, you'll find out," she said finally.

Karli gave her a curious look but brushed it off as they walked down the hallway together toward the examination rooms. Nurses glanced at them, but did not say anything. They all recognized Leiji and figured she was on her way to find her mother.

As they reached the end of the hallway, Sakura stepped out one of the rooms, intently examining the clipboard she held in her hands with furrowed brows. She glanced up when she heard the approaching footsteps and smiled. "Hello girls. You're just in time Karli." She glanced at Leiji and gave her a confused look. "Not that I'm not happy to see you and everything but, what are you doing here?"

Leiji shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. "I'll, uh, tell you in a bit."

Shrugging, Sakura opened a door and ushered the girls into the room. It was bare except for the cot in the middle of the room with an ultrasound machine sitting next to it, a lone chair in one corner, and a few shelves lining the wall to the right of the cot.

"All right, Karli," Sakura said as she sat on the stool in front of the ultrasound machine, "you remember the drill from last time?"

The machine whirred to life as Karli sat at the edge of the cot and laid back, pulling her shirt up to just above her navel and unbuttoning her pants. Leiji sat awkwardly in the cold metal chair in the corner and stared out the window behind the cot.

Sakura pulled a squeeze bottle with blue gel inside out of one of the holders on the side of the machine and shook it. Wordlessly, she reached over and squeezed a healthy amount of the gel on the brunette's abdomen.

Sakura laughed lightly as Karli shivered and tensed slightly. "It never seems to be warm, does it?"

As Karli shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut, Sakura grabbed the probe out of another holder and began spreading the blue gel around on Karli's abdomen. After the gel had been even distributed, Sakura stopped and focused the probe in about an inch and a half underneath Karli's navel. She pressed a few keys on the machine and grinned.

"Take a look," Sakura urged, turning the machine so Karli see the screen.

Awestruck, Karli stared at the small, tadpole shaped thing inside of her. Even Leiji leaned forward in her chair to get a better view, moving her hands to cover her own abdomen without even realizing it. Something on top of the little tadpole beat rapidly up and down at an almost inhuman speed. Karli recognized it as a heartbeat.

"Is…isn't the heart beating too fast?" Karli asked, concerned.

"Not at all," Sakura replied with a smile. "It's exactly as fast as it's supposed to be, and everything looks like it's developing perfectly too." She gave Karli a warm smile, and Karli returned it with a nervous one of her own. "You're moving into the house today, right?" Sakura asked, changing the subject as she moved the probe around and pressed more keys on the machine.

"Yes," Karli confirmed, her eyes never leaving the screen. "Hideki's supposed to get my things for me."

Sakura could hear the doubt in the teenager's voice and she patted Karli's knee gently as she replaced the probe in its holder and handed Karli a rag to wipe the gel off. "He'll come around," she assured Karli. "He may be a little stupid," she snickered, "but he knows right from wrong…most of the time. It'll probably take a while, but he will shape up eventually." She reached to the bottom of the machine and pulled a photograph out of the small printer. "Especially if you show him this," Sakura added, handing the picture to Karli.

"Oh, wow," Karli whispered as she stared at the ultrasound image of her unborn child.

"That picture can steer any man in the right path," Sakura assured her, taping the back of the photo with her index finger. She cast a sideways glance at Leiji as Karli stood and readjusted her clothing. "Now, what compelled you to come here today?"

Sighing, Leiji stood, walked to the cot, sat down, and laid back. "You better not turn that machine off just yet," she said bitterly as she did this. Ignoring her mother's shocked expression, Leiji followed Karli's example and tugged her shirt up to her navel and lowered the elastic band of her yoga pants.

Sakura stared at her daughter with wide eyes until realization suddenly hit her. "Leiji, are you _pregnant?" _

"Looks like it," Leiji replied in a monotone. "But I could use some confirmation."

"Of course!" Sakura cried as she fumbled for the bottle of gel again. Karli shifted from foot to foot as she stared in shock at her own role-model and big sister figure. She had not expecting this.

In a flash, Sakura had the gel spread over her daughter's stomach and was squinting at the screen in front of her. "Wow," she whispered. "It's tiny, but it's _there." _She raised her eyes and looked curiously at Leiji. "This embryo is barely at two weeks. How on earth did you manage to detect this so early?"

Leiji shrugged as she stared at the small spec k on the monitor. "Hachi suggested that this might be the case after I passed out the other day. Plus the damn test was positive, and I've been puking nonstop ever since."

Sakura knitted her eyebrows together in concern. "You've been that sick already?"

Leiji nodded miserably.

"I can prescribe something for that," Sakura said as she reached into the pocket of her lab coat and pulled out a prescription pad. As she scribbled something on it she let out a light laugh. "It's funny how different women's bodies react to pregnancy." She glanced back up at Karli. "Have you been sick much?"

Karli shook her head, turning her hair into a fan of curls. "Not really. Every once in a while I'll get nauseas, but it's not bad at all."

Sakura tore the paper from her pad and handed it to Leiji. "It'll get much better once you get into the second trimester," she assured them both. "Pregnancy actually becomes enjoyable after a while." She tapped the prescription she had just given to her daughter. "The bottle on that will say to take as needed, but I recommend taking one before you get out of bed in the morning. It will usually last you throughout the whole day. Also, it's also good to carry around crackers everywhere; they're the miracle cure of nausea."

Leiji nodded as she folded the prescription up into a tiny square and held it firmly in her hand. "Did you ever have to take this, mom?"

Sakura shook her head and grinned. "Nope. I suppose I'm one of the lucky ones. I didn't even notice I was pregnant with you until I was two and a half months in!"

Leiji glared at her mother in total jealousy.

A shadow of seriousness passed over Sakura's face as she gave Leiji a stern look. "I highly suggest you tell Naruto about this as soon as you leave the hospital. You can't do any training whatsoever. I'm sure Karin can take your place as head of ANBU for a while. Also, be sure to tell your father about this so I can rub it in his face when I get home tonight."

"Huh?" Leiji said, raising an eyebrow.

"He thought you and Hachi would never have children," Sakura explained. "I get to tell him I was right!" She glanced at her watch and stood, flipping the ultrasound machine off as she did so. "I have to get to my next appointment. Goodbye, girls."

As the two girls left the hospital together, Karli cast a sideways glance at Leiji. "At least I won't be miserable alone."

Leiji laughed out loud at this. "Hey, you're right!" Suddenly she felt the best she had in days. "We can wallow in our misery together!" She clapped a hand on Karli's back as she smiled. "I better go get this filled," Leiji mused as she waved the prescription her mother had written for her. "I'd like to actually be able to digest my food."

"That sounds horrible," Karli sympathized, wrinkling her nose. "I'm glad that's not happening to me."

"Consider yourself lucky," Leiji agreed. They reached a fork in the road and both girls turned in opposite direction. Glancing over her shoulder, Leiji called, "Hey, my brother's an idiot, but he loves you. Don't worry about it, okay?"

Karli smiled brightly, an almost childlike cuteness taking over her features. "I'll try."

As Leiji pushed open the door to the local pharmacy, the pharmacist, Mr. Tanaka, smiled in recognition. "Hello, Leiji," he greeted. "Here to pick up an inhaler refill for Tai?"

Leiji shook her head and slid her prescription across the counter. "This one's for me, actually."

Mr. Tanaka picked it up and glanced at Sakura's familiar handwriting. He raised a curious pair of eyes back to the Uchiha heiress. "My, it seems like just yesterday you were here with your daddy, riding on his shoulders. Now look at you, having a baby of your own."

Leiji smiled fondly at the memories. Up until she was eight, she would always insist on riding on her father's shoulders, if Hideki or Tai hadn't already claimed the spot. She had always looked to forward to running errands with him just so she could feel tall and on top of the world. "It is strange, isn't it?" she mused.

Smiling, Mr. Tanaka refolded the prescription and slid it into his pocket. "I'll have this ready for you in about an hour," he said.

"Thanks, Mr. Tanaka," Leiji replied gratefully. She exited the pharmacy and made her way to the hokage tower. She had called off sick from ANBU training for the past two days, and Karin filled in for her without question.

She reached the tower and entered Naruto's office without bothering to knock. Naruto glanced up from his paperwork as she approached and gave her a huge smile. "Hey Leiji, how's it going?"

"I'm pregnant," she spat.

It took Naruto a full minute to get over his shock. Finally his hands dropped to his desk and he opened his mouth to speak. "Well…uh…I guess…we'll have to take you out of the ANBU for a while. I'm sure Karin would be willing to take your place. No more missions, of course, uh," he paused to scratch the back of his head, "this is weird."

"Tell me about it," Leiji agreed, a hit of bitterness in her voice.

Naruto reached into one of his desk drawers, searching for something. After rifling through several papers, he pulled a single sheet out of the drawer and slid it across the wide desk to Leiji. "I'll just need you to sign this legal document stating that you temporary pass all of your power and responsibilities over to Karin."

Sighing, Leiji picked up a pen and scribbled her name on the dotted line, frowning as she did so. She glanced up at Naruto as she slid the paper back at him. "I'm not happy about this, you know."

A huge grin spread across Naruto's face. "I know. I never pictured you as the mommy-type. But then again, I never pictured Sasuke as the daddy-type." He shrugged, "Things change, I guess." He glanced at the paper and set it aside. "The ANBU will miss you, you know."

-0-

An hour later, Leiji stood at the front door of her childhood home and tossed one of the pills Mr. Tanaka had given her free of charge into her mouth. The conversation with Naruto had saddened her a bit, but the thought of telling her father about this sent lightning bolts of anxiety shooting through her chest. After a moment's hesitation, she finally pushed open the door and stepped inside.

Sasuke looked up in mild surprise as the front door opened. He had one hand on the doorknob of the basement door, preparing to return to his office, but paused when Leiji stepped inside. She opened her mouth to say something, but Hideki came nearly crashing down the stairs and interrupted her.

"You're here to train me right?" he asked, practically out of breath. The instant he sensed his sister's chakra enter the household, he had bolted from his room.

Leiji blinked, taken aback. She had completely forgotten about that. "Uh, actually no"

"What?" Hideki cried. "Don't tell me you changed your mind! You promised you'd train me for these exams and…"

As Hideki ranted on, Leiji turned back to her father and said bluntly, "Daddy, I'm pregnant."

Sasuke's eyes widened and Hideki cut off his rant midsentence as they both stared at the former Uchiha in shock.

She giggled nervously, held out her hands and said in a quiet voice, "Surprise."

"It's a fucking epidemic!" Hideki cried angrily as he threw his hands up in the air and stomped back to his room. This reaction did not surprise Leiji; however, her father's silence was worrying her. She turned her gaze back to him and waited nervously for a response.

"So, uh," Sasuke began awkwardly. He was nervous, and had no idea how to approach this situation.

Deciding to lighten the mood, Leiji broke into a nervous smile and said, "Mom told me to come here and tell you so she can rub it in your face later."

Sasuke rubbed his palm against his temple, smirking lightly. He had a feeling Sakura was going to go crazy with her 'victory' of this situation. "So…when…?"

Leiji understood what her father meant, and she mentally calculated an estimated due date in her head. Karli was due in mid-December, and Karli was almost two months ahead of her. "Um, February, I guess."

Unsure of what else to do, Sasuke stuck out his hand and placed it on top of his daughter's head, rifling up her hair as if she were a child. Leiji knew this was his way of saying that he (sort of) accepted the situation, and she smiled up at him with an almost childlike grin.

-0-

Much later that night, after Leiji had gone home cradling the pills her mother had prescribed for her like precious gems, and Hideki had hauled Karli's things (two suitcases and a box of person items and mementos) to the Uchiha household, Karli lay with her eyes open, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep.

She turned her gaze to Hideki, sleeping with his back to her. The picture had not been as big of a hit as Sakura had promised, at least not as far as she could tell. Hideki had stared at it for a moment, his filled with unmistakable wonder, and Karli had been sure he was about to have a change in heart. But after a moment, he simply tossed the picture aside and continued to help her unpack her things.

She turned her head again to stare at the pictures on Hideki's nightstand. There were two, one she had brought, and one that was Hideki's. Hideki's picture was a framed snapshot of the two of them, smiling into the camera at the Cherry Blossom festival, just three months prior. The second was a photograph of her mother, the only one she had. It had been taken right after her parents were married, but her mother was the only one in the picture. In it, she was sitting on the swing at the academy, her hair caught in a breeze that would never end, a radiant smile on her face. Her wedding band flashed in the bright sunlight, and her white dress billowed at her ankles. She had been a beautiful woman, and Karli possessed most of her features. It was hard to imagine just three and a half years later, the same woman would be lying in a hospital bed unable to move without tremendous pain shooting through her body, her features sunken and sallow, and just a few wispy strands of brown hair left.

Karli felt tears begin welling up in the corner of her eyes and she quickly turned away from the picture, wondering what her mother would have to say about this situation.

"Hideki?" she whispered.

"Hn?" he grunted, obviously annoyed to be awakened from his sleep. He didn't bother to turn and face her.

"Can…can you look at me?"

Sighing miserably, Hideki rolled over to his other side and tried to resist the urge to squeeze his eyes shut. Normally the thought of actually being able to spend a full night with Karli would excite him, especially when she was just wearing a tank top and boy shorts. He tried to keep his eyes focused on her face. "What?"

"You," she struggled, to find a good way to word what she wanted to say. "You still…love me, right?"

He stared at her in shock. Of course he did, he was simply…what? Scared? He didn't know himself. "Yes," he finally said.

Karli let out the breath she was holding. "All right," she said, sounding only slightly reassured. She nuzzled her cheek into her pillow, suddenly feeling exhausted. Just as she began to drift into sleep, she felt Hideki gently put his arm around her.

**This took DAYS for me to write, with distractions and such. Ugh. There were more things I wanted to do in this chapter, but oh well. They'll be mentioned in the next one. Sorry for the wait, I'm trying to update at least once a week! Review please! **


	4. Will I

**Once again, I feel like it's been FOREVER since I've updated! But I was out of town for Labor Day Weekend, so I have an excuse. Speaking of being out of town, hi Christina! Anyway, enjoy!**

"_Will I lose my dignity, will someone care?_

_Will I wake tomorrow, from this nightmare?"_

_-from _Rent

_Four Months Later_

"It's weird," Leiji muttered as she stared up at the sky spinning lazily above her. She and Karin had brought Kimaru to the local park to let out some energy. As he played happily in the sandbox, the two best friends lay on the abandoned merry-go-round, the tops of their heads nearly touching as they stared up at the cloudless blue sky. It had been their favorite spot to go and talk ever since they were little. Leiji always lay on the red triangle of color, and Karin always lay on the orange.

"What, the bed rest thing?" Karin asked.

Leiji only sighed miserably. She had been to her routine doctor's appointment that morning, and her doctor had told her without hesitation that she should be on bed rest, only going out once or twice a week at most. Since Leiji had discovered her pregnancy, she had been growing weaker and weaker. Just the walk to the hospital had been leaving her sweaty and out of breath. The pills her mother had prescribed had helped to ease the nausea, but they didn't work all the time anymore. She was constantly tired, although her doctor couldn't really say why. He only told her what her mother constantly said; that all women handle pregnancy differently.

"Cheer up," Karin urged. A butterfly fluttered into her vision and she tried to keep an eye on it as the merry-go-round spun lazily. "You've only got five more months to go. It'll fly by!"

"That's easy for you to say," Leiji mumbled bitterly. She moved her hands to rest on her abdomen, which had only just begun to swell with the first signs of pregnancy. To a random passerby, it would only look like she had put on a few pounds. "You were all over the place when you were pregnant," Leiji continued. "I have to stay in bed all day, almost every day. What am I supposed to do?"

"Watch a lot of TV," Karin replied, half-joking. "I hear daytime TV is only twice as mind-numbing as nighttime TV."

"Shut up, Karin," Leiji said with a sigh. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the merry-go-round, letting her feet drag in the dirt to slow it. A cool September breeze blew her hair into her eyes and she quickly brushed it away. "It's going to be miserable."

Karin sat up as well, glancing at Kimaru, who was currently in the process of rubbing sand into his blond hair. "You'll be fine," she reassured her best friend as she stood and stretched. She turned back to her best friend and gave her a lopsided grin, "Hey, don't you have that family dinner tonight?"

"Yeah," Leiji said as she rolled her eyes. Her mother had called her the night before to demand her and Hachi's presence at the Uchiha household for a family dinner. Apparently she had something exciting she wanted to share with both Leiji and Karli, who had reached her sixth month of pregnancy. Knowing her mother's spontaneous personality, Leiji feared the worst.

Karin snickered at Leiji's look of fear. "I'm sure your mom has something you'll love planned," she said as she lifted Kimaru from the sandbox, who greatly protested. He wriggled in his mother's arms and shook his head back in forth, spraying grains of sand in every direction. "Someone needs a bath," Karin giggled.

Kimaru froze at this, tightening his tiny grip on his mother's arm and throwing his head back in a wail.

Karin glanced back at Leiji with a grin. "The joys of parenthood. I bet you just can't wait!"

-0-

The Uchiha house was bustling as dinner time neared. The ten-year old Kyo stood in the archway that gave way to the kitchen, his arms folded as he stared intently at his grandmother, who had burst through the door less than an hour ago and demanded to prepare dinner for the family. Sakura, tired from a long day at the hospital, had agreed. Now Kyo stood, watching carefully as Mayura prepared the food. Ever since she had practically poisoned him with mushrooms (which the family discovered he was highly allergic to) when he was three, he always observed his grandmother's every movement when she cooked for them.

Sasuke opened the front door and stepped into the house, making Kyo jump. He turned slightly and gave him a nervous smile. "Hey dad?" he began, looking down at his feet as he spoke.

"Hn?" Sasuke hummed in reply, glancing into the kitchen and wincing at the sight of his mother-in-law.

"Well," Kyo began to fiddle with his fingers nervously, "I wanted to talk to you…in the, uh, Fortress."

Sasuke blinked in surprise. The Uchiha Fortress, the old tree house that Sasuke and Leiji had built together fourteen years ago, had become a meeting place for important discussions rather than a playhouse, as it had been originally. "Is it that important?" he asked, running his fingers through his hair.

Kyo nodded gravely, then glanced back at Mayura, who was busy chopping onions.

"She's not going to add any mushrooms to anything," Sasuke said calmly, placing a hand on his youngest son's shoulder. "She may be senile, but even she can't forget about the mushrooms."

Kyo only nodded in agreement as he followed his father out into the grassy backyard. The tree where the Uchiha Fortress stood within its sturdy branches was just beginning to turn its usual mix of red, orange, and yellow for fall. Once they were seated on the makeshift platform just outside the door of the tree house, Kyo began to swing his feet back and forth over the edge as Sasuke waited for his son to speak.

"Well," Kyo began hesitantly, "dad, I…"

"What?" Sasuke asked, quirking an eyebrow. Getting Kyo to talk about general topics was hard enough. Clearly, whatever was on his son's mind was going to take some prodding to get it out of him. "Kyo, just tell me."

Kyo took a deep breath, and then he did something that was so rare, even Sasuke was taken aback by it. Kyo looked his father straight in the eye and said, "I don't want to be a shinobi." Before Sasuke had a chance to speak, he went on. "I want to be a medic, in the hospital, like mom."

Sasuke blinked, opened his mouth to speak, blinked again, and finally found words. "If…if that's what you want to do, then tell your mom about it. She can work out some sort of apprenticeship for you." Though he was shocked, Sasuke was not entirely surprised by this. All of his children had become shinobi without question, and they had excelled at it. But deep down, he always knew Kyo was different. Some nagging feeling always warned him that the life of a shinobi was not for Kyo.

"You're not mad?" Kyo asked, looking surprised.

Sasuke shook his head. "I suppose I was expecting it."

The sliding glass door that connected the living room to the backyard slid open, and Sakura poked her head out, glancing around. She paused when she sighted her husband and son. "There you guys are!" she called, waving her arm. "Dinner's ready! Come inside!"

The Uchiha family, including Hachi, Mayura, and Karli, seated themselves around the large dining room table. Karli and Leiji shifted uncomfortably, unsure of what Sakura would bring up. Hideki sat next to Karli, but his movements made it obvious that he was trying as hard as he could to avoid all contact with her. Leiji felt bad for the poor girl, she couldn't help but wonder how she was really holding up, having to share a house with Hideki without him really being there for her. She looked stable enough.

"Now, you kids eat up and get your nourishment!" Mayura half-yelled as she began passing a plate of food around. "You've all got a big day ahead of you working in the circus and I will not tolerate anymore trapeze accidents!"

Everyone simply ignored the senile old woman and focused on filling their plates. Finally, when everyone had begun to eat, Leiji turned to her mother.

"So what's the big surprise that's so important you have to tell me and Karli together?" Leiji asked, looking wearily at her mother.

"Oh!" Sakura exclaimed, setting her chopsticks down. She had nearly forgotten the reason for this big dinner. "Well, I've been thinking-."

"That's never good," Hideki muttered under his breath and Tai elbowed him hard in the ribcage.

Sakura gave Hideki a hard stare before continuing. "Since you girls are both adamantly refusing a baby shower, for reasons I can't even fathom-."

"I don't want a stupid baby shower," Leiji interrupted.

"I just…don't want attention from this," Karli added quietly, glancing down at her plate.

"I've decided to take you two on an all girls trip to the hot springs!" Sakura finished as though she hadn't been interrupted. "I've already set it up with Hinata, Karin, Ino, and Tenten, and they think it's a great idea! We're going next month."

"But I'm on bed rest," Leiji blurted, and all heads turned in her direction.

"_What?"_ Sasuke and Hachi cried at once.

"W-when did this happen?" Hachi stammered, staring at his wife in shock.

Leiji laughed nervously. She had meant to tell everyone about the bed rest in a more calm manner. "At my appointment this morning," she said simply.

"It's because of all the fatigue, isn't it?" Sakura asked. She seemed to be the only one who wasn't surprised.

Leiji nodded. "He said he didn't know what was causing it, so he told me to start bed rest. I'm only supposed to go out two days a week at the most."

"Well that's good then!" Sakura declared.

Leiji stared at her mother as if she had gone insane.

"I only reserved rooms at the hot springs for a weekend!" Sakura continued. "So it works out perfectly!"

Leiji only crossed her arms and pouted, obviously displeased by this idea.

"When is the trip?" Karli asked. She seemed only slightly more enthused than Leiji.

"I scheduled it for the same weekend that Hideki starts the Jounin exams next month," Sakura said, casting a quick glance at her oldest son. He simply glanced down at his plate as Karli winced beside him. "That is, if he's still doing the exams." Sakura had a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

Hideki shook his head fiercely. "I'm doing the exams."

"Good for you, sonny!" Mayura cried, rising from her seat. "Someone around here needs to learn to defeat the potatoes of doom! Defend our homeland, boy!"

"Sit down, mother," Sakura hissed, and Mayura slowly slid back into her seat.

The rest of the meal was finished in awkward, contemplative silence. Sakura cleared the dishes and, with Sasuke's help, was busily washing them in the kitchen sink. Karli, who had become quite fond of after-dinner walks since the discovery of her pregnancy, had left to take a stroll through the twilight painted village. Hideki and Tai had gone outside to spar with Hachi, and Kyo had followed to watch.

Leiji was left sitting at the table with Mayura, who was staring at the chandelier with glassy eyes. Sighing, Leiji moved her hands to her cramping abdomen.

"That little one seems to be causing you a lot of trouble, sweetheart."

Leiji glanced up with a start and glanced around the room until she realized that it was indeed her grandmother who had spoken. "G-grandma?" she stammered. She couldn't believe the woman had just said something coherent.

"Yes, dear," Mayura replied, laughing lightly. "You know, I've heard some talk around the town about that baby of yours. Some people seem to be very worried about the kekkei genkai combining."

"W-what?" Leiji stammered again, unable to come up with a complete sentence in her shock. "I thought…aren't you…but…aren't you _senile?"_

Mayura shook her head, sending strands of wispy cotton candy hair fanning around her face. "Not at all."

"But-but-but."

"Oh Leiji," Mayura laughed, "at my age, I've got to find a way to have fun _somehow."_

"Then…"Leiji began, but trailed off. She looked at her grandmother expectantly.

"I've only been pretending to be crazy," Mayura snickered. "It's a little trick I've been playing on your mother. It's been so much fun!"

"For the past five _years?" _Leiji asked, disbelieving.

"Of course," Mayura replied with a grin. She placed a finger to her lips and made a 'shh' noise. "I plan on telling your mother the truth one day, but until then, it's our little secret, deal?" She winked.

"O-Okay," Leiji said, still in shock.

Sakura walked back into the room to make sure she hadn't missed any plates and suddenly Mayura jumped up, raised a pointed finger to the ceiling, and shouted, "I just love the disco!"

"Oh, mother," Sakura sighed, sounding tired as she left the room. Leiji could only grin.

-0-

The next morning, Karli lay on a padded cot in an examination room of the hospital with cold gel being spread over her stomach with the probe. Hideki sat next to her, looking at anything but the screen on the ultrasound machine. This appointment was, as Sakura called it, The Big One. In a moment, the sex of their child would be revealed, and Hideki wasn't sure just how to handle it.

Sakura leaned forward, staring at the screen intently with squinted eyes. Suddenly she jumped up, nearly dropping the probe to the floor and threw her arms in the air. "Yes!" she cried excitedly. She took in Karli and Hideki's matching expressions of confusion and slowly sat back down.

Silence filled the room until it was finally broken by Hideki, who couldn't take the quiet any longer. "So, what is it?"

Sakura clapped her hands together giddily and grinned. "It's a _girl_!" she declared, joy practically squirting out of her ears. "It's about time the Uchiha's had another girl in the family!"

"Oh, wow," Karli muttered. Suddenly, visions of a little girl with curly hair tied up with ribbons swam into her mind. Oddly enough, the visions made her cheeks flush with pride and excitement swell in her heart. She looked to Hideki, who was staring at the blank wall, chewing on his lower lip.

Suddenly he stood, muttering some excuse about having to go train with Kiba-sensei for the upcoming exams. He left the room without saying goodbye.

Karli felt tears well up, threatening to fall. She quickly blinked them back.

Sakura flipped the machine off and turned to face Karli, looking her directly into the eyes. "Don't worry about him," she said, her voice full of authority. "I know it seems like he's been acting like this for a long time, but he _will _come around. It's different with boys. They don't seem to realize the meaning of having a child until they actually hold it for the first time. It will be the same way with Hideki. That look he had before he left…well it was the same look Sasuke had when we found out about Leiji."

"It was?" Karli asked quietly, not quite sure if she believed Sakura's words.

"Oh, yes," Sakura assured her. "I don't know what it is, but there's something special about little girls and their fathers. It's some sort of bond. I'm sure you've noticed it with Leiji and Sasuke."

Karli nodded. Anyone with eyes could see that Leiji held a special place in Sasuke's heart. He treated her differently than his sons. He was more loving, more protective of her. She hoped the same would be with Hideki and their daughter.

Sakura patted Karli's bulging stomach. "You know, when you worry, it stresses out the baby too. Give her some time to relax. Why don't you spend the rest of the day with your father? It's been a while since you've visited him."

Karli stood slowly from the cot, struggling to find proper balance. She was beginning to find it difficult to find her center of balance lately. "That sounds like a great idea," she agreed as she tugged her shirt back into place. It was Sakura's old maternity shirt. She had given Karli a whole box of old clothes when her stomach began to swell.

"Don't you worry about a thing," Sakura urged as she gathered her clipboard into her arms. "Things always have a way of working out."

-0-

Hideki only trained with Kiba, his former sensei, for a little over an hour before Kiba had to leave to meet up with his own squad. Now Hideki lay on the couch in his living room, absently flipping through channels on TV and briefly wondering where Karli was. It seemed like every channel he passed was doing a special on teen pregnancy, and he resisted the urge to chuck the remote at the screen with enough force to break it.

Sasuke walked casually into the room, his hands shoved into his pockets. Wordlessly, he withdrew a tiny velvet box from his pocket and slid it across the coffee table. He stood, waiting patiently as Hideki picked up the box with mild curiosity and opened it.

Inside was a silver ring. One rather large diamond was centered on the band, and two smaller diamonds sparkled on either side of it.

Hideki shut the box and turned his gaze to his father. "I'm sorry, but I just can't accept this. I'm already in a relationship," he said sarcastically.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Take it, Hideki."

"I don't want it," he scoffed, placing the box back on the coffee table. "Besides, isn't that mom's engagement ring?"

"It was," Sasuke replied simply. "And my mother's as well. It's your turn."

"Would you just leave me alone?" Hideki muttered, looking back at the TV.

Sasuke shrugged. "If that's what you want. It seems like you're perfectly capable of making your own decisions, aren't you?" he said coolly before turning on his heel and walking away.

-0-

As dusk began to settle around Konoha, bringing a chilling breeze with it, Hideki made his way across town, pulling the hood of his navy hoodie up over his head as he walked. Karli had still not returned home, though he had received a text message from her an hour ago saying she was at her father's and my stay the night.

So many thoughts swirled through his mind as the first of the fallen autumn leaves danced around his feet. He walked briskly, trying to shove the thoughts away without success. A girl. Good? Bad? He didn't know. From what he could remember from his own childhood, he had always felt that Leiji received special treatment from their father. He wondered if he would be the same. The thought raised goose bumps on his arms, and he shuddered. The sudden image of a tiny, smiling girl saying 'daddy' burst into his mind's eye and he froze in place, squeezing his eyes shut, forcing the image out.

Suddenly he broke into a run and did not stop until he reached his destination. He stood in front of the front door to his sister's apartment, not sure of what brought him here in the first place. He found himself banging on the door with his fist, out of breath. The door flew open and Hideki came face-to-face with a very confused looking Hachi.

"Hideki?" he asked, raising a confused eyebrow. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"Wh-where's Leiji?" he panted, not knowing where the words were even coming from.

Hachi pointed a finger towards the room he shared with his wife, the quizzical look never leaving his face. "She's in there," he said slowly.

"Thanks," Hideki replied curtly as he brushed past his brother-in-law. He burst into Leiji's room, making her jump with the sudden burst of noise.

"Hideki," she whispered, placing her hand over her heart. "You scared the shit out of me! What's wrong with you?" She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, leaning against the headboard. The TV droned on from its spot opposite her.

"I…" Hideki started, but trailed off. In reality, he had no idea why he had come, and now that he was here, he had no idea what to say. After a moment of silence, he sat down at the edge of the bed, staring off into space. Finally he said in a nearly inaudible voice, "It's a girl."

"Congr-."

"And dad gave me this," Hideki interrupted, pulling the velvet box from his pocket. "And…and I…and I don't even…" Suddenly he buried his face into his hands, going completely silent.

"Hey," Leiji began, unsure of what to think of her brother's uneasy silence. Then she noticed his shoulders were shaking and before she could speak again a muffled sob escaped through Hideki's hands. "Are you…_crying?" _she asked, shocked. She didn't know how many more surprises she could take. This was so unlike the normally stoic Hideki.

"Tell me what to do," he begged, his voice sounding frantic and lost. "I don't know what to do!"

Leiji scooted herself closer to her brother and pulled him into her arms, letting him cry onto her shoulder. "I can't tell you what to do," she said calmly, running her fingers through his hair in the same way their mother had done to comfort them when they were younger. "Only you know what's right." She was quiet for a moment, caught completely off-guard by this breakdown. Finally she let out a sigh. "You love her." It came out as a statement rather than a question.

Hideki nodded into her neck, his arms tightening around her neck.

"That's a start," Leiji said, unsure of how to give advice for such a situation. She had never had to deal with something like this before. The only thing that came close to this situation was Karin's pregnancy three years ago, but she had handled it well enough.

Leiji reached for the velvet box, which had fallen from Hideki's hands and held it in her palm. "Only use this if you feel like you should," she said. She rested her cheek on top of her brother's head, trying to think of something comforting to say. "Do you really think the Jounin exams are that important?" she finally asked.

Again, Hideki only nodded into her shoulder. He seemed to be calming down.

"Then do them if you think they're that necessary, but I swear to God, if you get yourself killed," she paused, stopping herself with a breath. Now was not the time to lecture him. "Just…be careful, okay?"

Hideki pulled back from his sister's hug and quickly swiped the heel of his hands against his eyes. "I'm not stupid," he said simply, and Leiji smiled at that. He was starting to act like himself again.

"You're going to make it, kid," Leiji said as she punched her brother playfully on the shoulder.

Hideki sighed and pulled himself to his feet. "I guess so."

"Feel better?" Leiji asked, leaning back against the headboard with her hands folded behind her head.

"Yeah, thanks," Hideki muttered, staring down at his feet.

"Anytime," Leiji replied simply.

Hideki turned on his heel to leave, and paused when his hand touched the doorknob. He glanced over his shoulder and gave his sister a cold stare. "If you tell _anybody _about this, I'll beat you to the ground, baby or no baby."

Leiji only laughed heartily at this. "Your secrets safe with me," she said, swiping her fingers over her lips like she was zipping them shut. "Now get out of my house. You've got a lot of training to do." She paused then added like an afterthought, "In more ways than one."

**Ah, nothing beats the feeling of finally finishing another chapter. I also must say this is my longest chapter yet! I hope you've all enjoyed, and don't forget to review! **


	5. Rox in the Box

**I haven't updated in over a week…it feels so long! But never fear, I'm still here!**

**ALSO! I have a question for YOU, faithful readers! Who's your favorite Uchiha child? Leiji, the strong, independent one, Hideki, the rebellious, loud one, Tai, the intellectual, quiet one, or Kyo, the shy and reserved one? Tell me in a review! My favorite used to be Leiji…but it's becoming Hideki. Hmm, I wonder why?**

"_So while we're living here, _

_Let's get this little one thing clear._

_There's plenty of men to die,_

_Don't jump your turn."_

_-The Decemberists_

One month later, the day before the Jounin exams were to begin, Karli sat up in the bed she shared with Hideki, leaning against the wall and sighing heavily. Earlier that day, her healthy baby girl had given her a good, hard kick in the ribs, cracking one of them. Sakura had laughed good-naturedly as she mended the break, sharing her own pregnancy mishaps as she did so. Even though the rib had been healed, Karli's skin was still bruised and swollen in the area, making it impossible to lie on her side for sleep, which had been difficult enough to get already.

Hideki lay on his stomach next to her, his arms underneath his pillow with his head facing away from her. Lately, Hideki had taken up the habit of sleeping this way, and Karli was beginning to get sick of it. She watched him for a moment, wondering if he was really asleep, before finally speaking.

"Hideki?"

He turned his head slowly towards Karli's voice, never lifting his head from the pillow. One eye opened and looked lazily up at her. "Hn?" he grunted.

Karli glanced down at her hands, twining her fingers together and then releasing them. The baby fluttered lightly in her abdomen, as if sensing her mother's unease. Finally Karli turned back to Hideki and said, "Please don't do the exams."

Hideki was quiet for a moment before he responded. "I have to."

"No, you _don't,"_ Karli nearly cried, feeling hot tears begin to work their way into her eyes. "You really don't! We'll be fine as Chuunin! Stop thinking about yourself in this, and think about me! No, think about…" she paused and thrust her hand underneath Hideki's pillow, fishing for his hand. When she found it, she clasped her hand around his wrist and dragged it out. Then she used both her hands to take his hand and fold it into a fist, leaving only his pointer and middle finger out. Without missing a beat, she then pressed his fingers to a spot to the left of her navel, applying just enough pressure to dent her round stomach around his fingers. "Think about that."

Something small was thumping in rapid motion against Hideki's fingers. He lifted his head from his pillow, careful not to move his hand, and stared at Karli. The thumping seemed endless against the pads of his fingers.

"What is that?" he asked slowly.

"That's her heart," Karli replied gingerly, locking eyes with Hideki.

Quietly, cautiously, Hideki pushed himself into a sitting position and placed both hands on Karli's stomach, fanning out his fingers as if he were trying to fit the whole thing in his hands. Something strong, hard, beat at the palm of his hand, once, twice, and then stopped.

"That was kicking," Karli said, grimacing. The baby's foot was a little too close to her ribcage for her comfort. The last thing she wanted was another cracked rib. "She does that a lot," Karli paused to glance at her hands again, "when you talk."

"When I talk?" Hideki repeated, jumping lightly as his daughter's foot beat his palm again. He stared down at his hands, marveling.

"When you talk," Karli confirmed. "She seems to like your voice…a lot. She goes crazy when she hears it."

"I…I didn't know she could hear me," Hideki stammered. He moved his hands back and forth a little.

Karli bit her tongue. She was so tempted to snap at him for his ignorance. This was the most he had paid attention to her since she had gotten pregnant. Instead she said, "She needs a name. We can't just keep calling her 'she'."

Hideki glanced up at Karli, then back to her stomach. He didn't even think, the name just popped out of his mouth seemingly out of nowhere. "Sango."

"S-Sango?" Karli blinked in surprise. Her eyes widened a little at the name. "Are you _sure_ about that name? I mean, your sister-."

"I'm sure," Hideki interrupted, his eyes never leaving his hands.

The sister Karli had referred to was, of course, not Leiji, but the would-be fifth Uchiha child. After Kyo had been born, doctors had told Sakura that she _shouldn't _have any more children. However, the doctors had never said that she _couldn't. _Five years after Kyo had been born; Sakura had found herself, once again, pregnant. Hideki had been eleven at the time and, although he didn't understand the entirety of the seriousness of the situation, he knew enough to know that his mother had to be extremely careful. And she was, of course. Every move Sakura had made in the beginning had been overly cautious, but once she had reached the fourth month and was, as the doctors told her, out of the "danger zone", the family began to relax.

That had been a mistake. In the midst of her fifth month of pregnancy, Sakura had begun to bleed. Hideki had never seen his father move so fast. It seemed that they were at the hospital in a split second, suddenly being told by all these doctors that Sakura was having a second trimester miscarriage. Hideki hadn't really known what that meant back then, but he knew it was bad. Just days before the miscarriage, the family had discovered that they would have a baby sister. Deciding to be creative, Sakura had gathered the whole family together and asked them to collectively decide on the newest edition's name. The name they had all agreed upon was, of course, Sango.

The doctors had managed to deliver Sango, somehow still miraculously alive, and they immediately brought her to the Neonatal Infant Care Unit of the hospital. An hour later, she was hooked up to so many tubes and machines that she could barely be touched. But she was still alive. The doctors had allowed the family to see her, to hold her, and the six of them rushed to the little Uchiha's side. Tai and Kyo had not been allowed to hold her, they were too young at the time, but Hideki was. Hideki still remembered the excitement mixed with fear and overwhelming love he had felt when Sasuke had gingerly placed Sango in Hideki's waiting arms.

Even with the heat blanket wrapped tightly around her frail body, Sango was still so small that she fit neatly in Hideki's small hands. Her skin was nearly translucent and paper thin. Her eyes never opened but her hands reached up to his face, her tiny fingers making the slightest grasping motions. Hideki felt an overwhelming need to protect her at that moment, a feeling he had never experienced with his little brothers. In that moment, his eleven-year old mind began to slightly grasp and understand why his father was the way he was with Leiji.

Hideki had been the last one to hold Sango that day. She had died three hours later.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Hideki repeated, his voice barely a whisper as he brought himself back to the present. He hadn't thought of his would-be little sister like that in years, he had forgotten the way he had felt, holding her, afraid her fragile body would break at the lightest touch. She would have been almost six now.

"Are you all right?" Karli asked, noticing the faraway look in Hideki's eyes. She lightly touched his arm and rested her hand there.

"I'm fine," Hideki replied, and for the first time in seven months, he didn't shy away from Karli's touch. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers, looking straight into her green eyes that were dimmed only by the darkness of the room. "But I'm still doing the exams."

"Why?" Karli cried, feeling tears threaten to fall again.

Hideki hesitated a moment, shifting his eyes. Sighing, he locked his gaze with hers again and said, "Just don't worry about me, okay? I'll be fine." He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, the first he had given her in months, and laid back down. "Now get some sleep," he continued, not noticing that Karli had raised her fingers to her lips in surprise. "I have to be up early tomorrow."

-0-

Bright and early the next morning, Hideki stood at the main entrance of the Academy, where the first phase of the Jounin exams was to be held. He had said goodbye to Karli fifteen minutes ago, and the image of the tears running down her cheeks still had not left him. He knew how much doing these exams was hurting her, but something still told him to do them. He didn't know what, but Hideki had never been one to run away from intuition.

Boldly, Hideki puffed out his chest in an attempt to seem older and more confident and proceeded up the stairs to the third floor. He entered the assigned room and stopped dead in his tracks. Looking around the room, he saw that he was youngest there by far. He hadn't considered this possibility, but he shrugged, thinking he would have the advantage because of his age, and strolled into the room, taking a seat at the nearest desk.

"Hey kid! What're you doing here? This ain't no funhouse!" someone shouted. Hideki whipped his head around and gave the man his own version of the famous Uchiha glare.

"I'm here for the exams," Hideki said coolly. The man who had spoken, a muscular guy with arms covered in snake tattoos, looked shocked at his words.

"Hey, I know you! You're that Uchiha kid!" the man cried. "The oldest boy, right?"

Hideki blinked. He often forgot that being an Uchiha came with unwanted fame. Everyone seemed to know him and his brothers. Leiji was not as popular as the boys were, but that was to be expected. After all, boys were needed to carry on a family name, not girls.

"Yeah," Hideki muttered, casting a nervous glance around the room. People were staring now, most of them glaring angrily at the young Uchiha.

"What was your name again, kid?" the tattooed man asked, ignoring the strange looks he was now getting for even talking to the outsider.

"Hideki," Hideki replied, not even bothering with his last name. Everyone already knew it anyway.

The man nodded, got up, and took a seat next to Hideki. He held out his hand and Hideki shook it cautiously. "I'm Jiro," the man introduced himself. "Now, kid," he continued, "what in the hell are you here for? You want to get your fool self killed?"

Hideki shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "I just…want to be a Jounin."

Jiro rolled his eyes. "Do you really expect me to believe that, kid?"

"Hey! My sister was a Jounin when she was fifteen! I'm sixteen!" Hideki replied angrily, crossing his arms as he spoke. "Besides, why should I tell _you _anyway?"

Jiro held out his hands in defense. "You don't have to. Touchy, ain't you?"

"What's it to you?" Hideki grumbled, turning his attention to the front of the classroom.

The door to the classroom slammed shut and a muscular man in black stomped into the room. His face had a permanent scowl etched into his features, and his big hands were clasped tightly behind his back.

He turned to face the group of thirteen men and two women who would be participating in the exam and bellowed, "Listen up! I'm Yasutoki Tsunoda, your proctor for the first exam!" He reached into his desk and removed a stack of papers. "This is the first round," he said as he waved the papers in the in the air. "A written exam: one hundred questions, one hundred minutes. This isn't like the Chuunin exams shit, this is a _real _test and if you're caught cheating you _will_ be removed from the exams immediately! Any questions?"

A timid looking man in the back of the room raised his hand slowly. "Um, what is the test on?"

Yasutoki gave the man a horrifying glare that made even Hideki cringe in his seat. "This exam will test your military knowledge. If you get lower than a middle B on this exam, you automatically fail. Understand?" No one moved. Yasutoki took in the solemn faces of the fifteen prospective Jounin staring at him and nodded curtly. "Fine," he said as he began to pass out the papers. "The exam begins now."

-0-

By mid-afternoon, all of the females who were to be attending the trip to the hot springs were gathered in the Uchiha's living room. Ino, Hinata, Tenten, Sakura, and Karin all looked overjoyed for the trip. Leiji and Karli, however, looked absolutely miserable.

Sasuke nudged Leiji in the side and she glanced up at her father, pouting. "This is going to suck," she said miserably.

"It's just two days," Sasuke reminded her, not adding that he would rather stab himself with a kunai than spend more than five minutes with all these women at once.

Leiji only sighed. "That's easy for you to say, you get to stay here." She paused a moment then raised a questioning eyebrow."What do you plan to do with Tai and Kyo for the weekend?"

Sasuke smirked, "Kyo's been insisting on having a sleepover in the tree house, so Naruto's coming over with Kimaru and we're all staying up there tonight."

"Lucky," Leiji muttered under her breath as she eyed her mother, who was talking excitedly with Ino. She would much rather spend time up in the Fortress than go on a stupid hot springs trip. Unfortunately, she had no choice in the matter. She would just have to tough it out. She cast a sideways glance back at her father, smiling lightly. "Are you worried about Hideki?"

Sasuke shifted, unsure of how to answer the sudden question. "He could be killed," he stated, deciding it was the safest thing to say. He didn't want to admit that really was incredibly worried about Hideki. He had felt the same fear when Leiji had taken the exams nearly five years before.

Leiji snickered lightly and Sasuke stared at her expectantly, waiting for an explanation. "He won't be killed," she promised. "I've got a few ANBU trailing him. They'll mostly just watch him, but if it starts to look like he's in real trouble, they'll step in."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that considered cheating?"

"No," Leiji said, shaking her head. "But they do have to step in he'll be disqualified."

"Clever," Sasuke said with a smirk. Hideki could go through the entire exam and never know he was being trailed by the ANBU.

"Well, I wasn't just going to let him get killed in there," Leiji said simply. She opened her mouth to say more, but was interrupted by an exited cry from Tenten.

"All right, let's go!" the weapons mistress shouted, throwing her hands up in the air.

Sasuke quickly made his escape from the living room, not wanting to be trapped in a room full of excited females. Sakura pretended not to notice her husband's hasty exit and hoisted her travel bag over her shoulder. "I'll carry your bags for you," she said to Leiji and Karli, knowing that they shouldn't be carrying something so heavy.

"I can do it myself," Leiji replied stubbornly, picking up her own bag and sliding it onto her shoulders. Her back began to protest immediately, but she just gritted her teeth and tried to ignore it.

"If you say so," Sakura muttered, sounding unsure. She glanced to Karli, who was staring at her bag, which was sitting by her feet. "How about you?"

"If you don't mind," Karli said timidly. She hated asking for help, but knew she couldn't carry the bag for long. It was too heavy for her to lift.

"I don't mind at all," Sakura assured her, curling her hand around the handle of Karli's bag and lifting it effortlessly. "Is everyone ready?"

"Yeah!" Karin cried, slinging her arm around Leiji's shoulders, earning a glare from the pregnant heiress. Karin stuck out her lower lip in a pout, "C'mon Leiji, cheer up! This trip will be fun!"

"I doubt it," Leiji muttered under her breath as she was led out the front door.

-0-

Hideki leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head, glancing around the classroom to see how far the other fourteen participants had gotten. Some looked nervous, their eyes darting anxiously to the clock and back to their papers. Others had little smirks playing on their lips. They had finished their exam in record time, just like Hideki had. Twenty minutes remained and the Uchiha was already bored waiting for the others to finish.

The test had been simple enough. Most questions were just various scenarios and the test taker had to write a paragraph or two about which tactic would be best for getting out of certain situations. Hideki had been careful with these questions, writing every detail he could think of on the paper. His exam was covered in his hasty handwriting; it went all the way down to the bottom margins of the paper, and he even continued his answers on the back of each page. He hoped all the detail he had added would get him somewhere, as he had never been that thorough on an exam before.

His eyes drifted to Jiro's paper, and he saw that the man was nearly done with his exam as well. Hideki tried not to grin as he noticed that Jiro's answers were very similar to his own. If this older man's answers were nearly the same, then surely Hideki had answered the questions correctly.

"Time!" Yasutoki shouted, and many people who were still taking their exam jumped in surprise at his voice. "That's it everyone! Pencil's down, it's over."

Jiro gently placed his pencil on top his exam and winked at Hideki. "Just in time, eh kid?"

Hideki smirked at this and turned his attention back to the front of the room.

"Those of you who didn't finish, leave now," Yasutoki commanded. "If you can't think complex problems through quickly then you have no business trying to be a Jounin. Get out."

Eight people stood, grumbling under their breath as they exited the classroom. Seven remained, staying calmly in their seats as they waited for Yasutoki to continue.

"The rest of you," he said, taking in the sight of their expectant faces, "I congratulate you. You've made it through the first round. However, the second won't be so easy." He paused for dramatic effect before continuing. "The seven of you will go to the Forty-Fourth Battle Training Ground – or, as you may remember from the Chuunin exams, the Forest of Death – now. The second exam proctor is waiting for you there, and he's not as nice as I am. Now, go."

They all walked to the forest in a group, muttering nervously to each other. The first part had been simple; surely the second would be dangerous, even life-threatening, especially since it would be taking place in the Forest of Death.

A man stood by the main entrance of the forest. His face was hardened by his many years as a shinobi, and ragged scars were cut deeply into the skin of his visible flesh. His dark eyes stared fixedly at the approaching group and nodded curtly when they reached him.

"About what I expected," he muttered, counting the number of Chuunin in front of him. "I am Kazunori. I am not your friend, and I'm not going to baby you through this exam. I will tell you the rules once and then you're all on your own, got it?"

Hideki nodded in understanding with the rest of the group, and he wondered if the others felt the same nervousness bubbling in the pit of their stomachs. He suddenly felt slightly sick as the reality of the situation hit him. He could _die _here. And then what would become of Karli? And Sango? Who would take care of them if he was gone? He shook his head quickly, pushing the thoughts aside. If he didn't pass these exams, he wouldn't even be able to take care of them.

"All right," Kazunori said, ripping Hideki out of his thoughts. "Here's how it's going to be. There will be no teams, this is all independent work. Each of you will get a scroll, and each scroll has a different set of clues on it. There will be a flag at each location that your clues lead to, and your mission is to collect every flag and report to the tower. This simulates an information gathering mission in a place that is not well-known to you, as most Jounin are sent on these kinds of missions.

"The dangers in this forest are real, and the things in there are nothing compared to what you faced in the Chuunin exams. You see, we tend to lock up a lot of the animals who live in that forest during the Chuunin exams. If we didn't, every single kid in there would die without a doubt."

A few gasps and nervous giggles came from the small crowd of seven, and Kazunori gave them a stern look.

"That's all I'm telling you," he informed them. He leaned down and picked up a box that was sitting by his feet and held it out. "Each of you take a scroll and get your asses in there. You have two days."

-0-

"And then the man said, 'There is no ramen! There's a ramen shortage!'" Naruto cried, waving his flashlight all over the tree house, illuminating the unimpressed faces of Sasuke, Tai, Kyo, and even Kimaru. The sleepover had begun three hours ago, and since night had fallen, the boys decided it was time for scary stories. Naruto, of course, had decided to tell the first, and he had told the most 'horrifying' story he knew.

"That was…good," Kyo said slowly, choosing his words carefully.

"You're not supposed to lie, Kyo," Tai informed his younger brother. Turning back to Naruto he said, "That sucked."

"You're not supposed to be mean to old people!" Kyo protested, crossing him arms as he glared at Tai.

"Hey, I'm not old!" Naruto shouted. "If I'm old, then Sasuke's old too!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at this. _Old?_ he thought. Well, this was new.

Kyo reached into a bowl of popcorn and shoved a fistful in his mouth. He looked at Kimaru, swallowed, and asked, "Did _you _like it, Kimaru?"

The toddler rapidly shook his head.

"What?" Naruto whined, "My own grandson doesn't like my scary story?"

Sasuke had to smirk at this. Naruto sounded just like he was twelve again. Even his exaggerated motions hadn't changed much since they were kids. And suddenly, Sasuke was struck with an idea. He didn't know any scary stories to entertain the kids, but he did know some good _real _stories.

"Hey," Sasuke said, and all eyes were suddenly on him, "I have an idea. Naruto, why don't we tell them about Zabuza?"

Naruto jumped at the suggestion. "Yeah! I saved the day!" He snickered at the memories, "I saved your butt, Sasuke!"

"You did?" Kyo asked, staring at Naruto in awe. "What happened?"

"He didn't," Sasuke corrected. "I think I better tell this one. All Naruto will do is screw it up."

"No way!" Naruto cried, leaning comfortably against the wooden wall of the tree house. "I get to tell it!"

"Fine," Sasuke said with a sigh, "but I'll be correcting every lie you try to tell."

"So what happened?" Kyo demanded again, sounding interested. "I want to hear the story!"

"Well," Naruto started, a sly grin spreading across his seemingly ageless features, "it all started with a simple C-rank mission…"

**And I'm ending there, cause I'm tired, have a headache, and I have a history paper to write that I really don't want to do! Save me from history class! Ugh. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and sorry for the wait on it! I'll try not to do that again. And don't forget to leave a review! Pretty please?...with sugar on top?...and a cherry? What I'm saying is I like reviews! **


	6. Shattered

**As usual, sorry for the wait, I've just been really busy lately and….excuses, excuses…**

"_There's a light, there's a sun,_

_Taking all shattered ones."_

_-Trading Yesterday_

_Maybe I can drown myself, _Leiji thought as she stared down into the dark, steaming water. It wasn't that the hot springs trip was bad; in fact, Leiji had actually begun to enjoy herself once the group of women had actually arrived. They started off their trip with a massage, and then they all had dinner in the hot spring's restaurant. Once the sky had begun to grow dark, the group had finally decided to take a dip in the springs.

And that was when the sake had been brought out.

Leiji glanced miserably to Karli, who looked more horrified than anything. They, of course, were the only ones who were not partaking in the drink, and for that it seemed that for that, they had to suffer. Leiji had never seen her mother drunk before, and she stared at Sakura with wide, terrified as eyes as she spoke in drunken slurs. The topic had, of course, changed to something that made Leiji want to clamp her hands over her ears, and that made Karli blush madly as she tried to focus on anything but the drunken women.

"You know," Sakura slurred to Ino and Tenten, "Sasuke may be cold-hearted sometimes, but that man can pound me like a jackhammer!"

At this, Ino and Tenten burst into loud gales of laughter. Hinata let out a small titter, glanced at Karin (who was too busy downing another glass of sake to laugh), and blushed more from alcohol than embarrassment.

"Lucky," Ino said to Sakura, leaning forward at a slightly off-angle. "Shikamaru is so damn lazy! I have to do _all _the work! It's a wonder the man got two kids out of me!"

"It sucks to be you," Tenten said as she poured herself another glass. "Neji would kill me for saying this, but the man's a freak! We figured out a way to use our chakra to make things more…_interesting. _Turns out, sex on the ceiling is the greatest thing _ever!" _Blinking, Tenten turned her attention to Leiji, who was hastily trying to find a way to get herself and Karli out of there. "Hey!" Tenten cried, and Leiji jumped. "Hachi is Neji's son…so…is he, like, just as much of a freak?"

Leiji stared at her mother-in-law in shock. Sure, Tenten had a tendency to be outlandish at times, but this was just too far. "I have to go," Leiji said quickly as she stood and tried reaching for a towel.

Karli attempted to follow Leiji's example, but both girls were interrupted by Sakura's bellowing voice. "Sit down!" she nearly shouted. "We brought you girls here to have a good time!"

"Yeah," Karin slurred in agreement. She reached out and threw an arm around her best friend's shoulders. "Don't leave me, Leiji, I love you too much! You have to stay!"

Karli looked desperately at Leiji for help, but she simply shrugged, defeated, and lowered herself back in the water.

"We'll stay," Leiji said, speaking for both soon-to-be mothers, "but the topic of conversation needs to be changed. _Now." _

"You're no fun," Ino said with a pout. Her blue eyes suddenly brightened as her attention turned to Karli. "Hey! Karli! If Sasuke pounds Sakura like a jackhammer, what does Hideki do to you?"

Horrified, Karli raised her hands to her cheeks in an attempt to hide the flaming red blush that had burst onto her cheeks. Leiji only sighed. This was going to be a long night.

-0-

Hideki scrambled into the hollow area of a large tree, unaware that it was the same tree his parents took shelter under during their Chuunin exams. His hand was clasped tightly around his arm and warm, sticky rivers of blood flowed freely between his fingers. Painfully grinding his teeth, Hideki squeezed his eyes shut and carefully let go of his arm.

Looking down to review the damage, Hideki saw that a deep, six inch gash had been torn into his upper arm, stretching from his shoulder almost down to the crook of his elbow. Dime-sized drops of blood splashed into the dirt at an alarming rate and Hideki nibbled nervously at his lower lip. He had been careless while he was collecting his last flag, too busy relishing in the fact that he had finished his mission in only a few hours to pay attention to his surroundings. That was when the snake had gotten him, sinking one of its unnaturally long fangs into his arm before Hideki even noticed it was there.

Fortunately, Hideki had managed to rip himself away from the giant serpent and stagger through the thick trees until he reached this clearing and saw shelter. He grimaced as sharp pain laced its way throughout his entire arm, and he briefly wondered if the snake had been venomous. If that were the case, he would surely die right there.

To his horror, the world was beginning to sway and ripple around him, and everything was taking on a murky, gray hue. Hideki sat quickly in the dirt, leaning his head against the rough bark of the tree. He was in trouble, and he knew it. If he didn't find a way to get the venom out of his system soon, he would lose consciousness and then there would be no chance of survival at all. In a desperate attempt to think, he closed his eyes and felt the world slip away.

-0-

Karli slid open the door of the hot springs hotel room and stepped out onto the balcony. The moon reflected on the water of the steamy springs in brilliant light and Karli sighed, gripping the railing as she leaned over to stare at the ground, three stories below her.

"Are you okay?"

Karli jumped. She didn't realize she hadn't been alone since everyone had fallen into a drunken slumber, and she slowly turned to face Leiji, who was sitting crossed legged in the corner between the wall of the hotel and railing of the balcony. Her glowing cell phone light blinked out, making the moon the only source of light. But even in the dimness, Leiji could still see the faint tear streaks staining Karli's cheeks.

"I'm all right," Karli lied, shifting her gaze back to the water.

"Bullshit," Leiji retorted as she struggled to stand. She joined Karli by her side and followed her gaze out over the railing. "You're worried about Hideki, aren't you?"

Wiping her cheeks with the palm of her hand, Karli nodded and had to stifle a sob before she spoke. "I can't help it."

Sighing, Leiji placed an arm around Karli's shoulders and tugged her closer. "Listen," she began, "I really didn't want to tell you because technically it's illegal, and Hideki will get barred from the exams if they find out, but-."

"But what?" Karli interrupted, staring at Leiji with wide eyes. She had no idea what the former Uchiha was about to tell her, but she could tell it would be something good.

"I have two of my best ANBU keeping an eye on him. If it looks like he's in a life threatening situation, they'll step in," Leiji explained, leaving out the fact that she had just received a text from the ANBU informing her about a snake bite Hideki had gotten. They reported that they had injected him with an antidote after he had passed out and left him to sleep.

"Can you do that?" Karli asked, bewildered.

"Of course I can," Leiji replied, "just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm not calling all of the shots for the ANBU still. So don't worry, because he'll be just fine."

Karli smiled gently, suddenly feeling more relieved than she had in months. "That's good," she mused, "That's really good."

-0-

"Damn it, kid, are you all right?"

Hideki's eyes fluttered open and struggled to focus on the face that seemed to be floating in his line of vision. Color swam back into the world and he realized it was Jiro who was sitting there. Pain radiated from his arm and he gasped, clenching his eyes shut again.

"Kid, I could've sworn you were dead," Jiro said when Hideki had opened his eyes again. "Looks like that snake got you good."

"How did you know I was here?" Hideki asked with a shaking voice. He struggled to sit up, but pain shot through his arm in lightning bolts every time he moved.

"You left a pretty nasty trail of blood out there," Jiro replied, shrugging. "Cleaned it up so nothing else could follow it. Let me see that arm." He held out a big, meaty hand and watched Hideki levelly until he finally obeyed and rested his injured arm in the man's hand.

"I really can't believe you're still alive, it's nothing short of a miracle," Jiro mused as he traced a finger over the wound, causing Hideki to flinch. "Got to close up that wound though, that way it won't scar too bad."

"How are you going to do that?" Hideki asked. He had passed out leaning against the inside of the tree and his neck was stiff. He tried rolling his head from side to side, but his muscles only tightened, protesting against the movement.

Wordlessly, Jiro let go of Hideki's arm and reached into his supply pouch. He removed a small vile of clear liquid, a sewing needle, and thick black thread and balanced them all on his leg. As Hideki stared at him with questioning eyes, Jiro removed a match from behind his ear, struck it on the bark of the tree and held the flame underneath the needle for a moment. When the flame had almost reached his fingertips, Jiro blew the match out and tossed it haphazardly aside. He then picked up the thread and pushed it through the eye of the needle.

"Sorry about this," Jiro began as he picked up the vile with his free hand, "but this is going to hurt."

Hideki stared with wide eyes as Jiro dumped the contents of the vile over the wound, which began to produce white bubbles immediately on contact. He winced as the liquid began to sting deep within his arm. It was hydrogen peroxide Jiro had poured on his arm and suddenly Hideki knew what he was planning on doing.

Before he could open his mouth to protest, Jiro plunged the tip of the needle into Hideki's flesh and began pulling. Hideki could only squeeze his eyes shut and try to focus on anything but the pain while Jiro stitched the wound closed.

"Care to tell me why you're really here?" Jiro asked simply as he continued to work. "Word travels fast about you Uchiha's, and a lot of people have been saying you've got a girlfriend who's expecting. This exam wouldn't have anything to do with that, would it?"

Hideki shifted his gaze to look outside of the tree hollow. It was close to dawn, and he could see faint streams of pink light filtering through the trees.

"I'll take that as a yes," Jiro said, pulling the needle tightly to close the wound. "I've got a kid myself, you know. She's two. It's just me and her."

"Y-you have a daughter?" Hideki stuttered. He was having trouble picturing this big, burly tattooed man having a child.

Jiro nodded. "Yep. Wife up and split after she was born. Babies need lots of things, and I wasn't making enough as a Chuunin, so that's why I'm here." He had finished stitching Hideki's arm and he used his teeth to cut off the extra thread.

"Me too," Hideki muttered, watching as Jiro tied the thread as tightly as he could to keep the stitches from coming loose.

"And I thought you Uchiha's were rich," Jiro commented. He did not sound angry, just surprised.

Hideki simply shrugged. He was used to his family being referred to as rich. "My parents just aren't paying for much."

"It's a tough world out there," Jiro agreed. "Know what you're having?"

"A girl. Sango."

"Pretty name," Jiro said as he returned all of his supplies to his pouch then stood. "Little girls will change your life forever, though you probably already know that seeing how close your dad is to that sister of yours."

"That's an understatement," Hideki replied with a smirk, beginning to feel better than he had in a long time.

Jiro smiled back. "You won't know the feeling till you actually hold that little girl in your arms though," he said and held out his hand. Hideki took it and let the man help him to his feet. "You got all your flags, kid?"

"Yeah," Hideki replied, feeling the blood rush to his head. He had been sitting for so long without moving, his entire body felt stiff.

"Good," Jiro replied, "me too." He turned on his heel and began walking out of the hollow. "Come on, kid, let's get to the tower."

-0-

Morning dew sparkled in the grass, wetting Tai's toes in his standard issue shoes. He had left the sleepover an hour ago in order to get in some solo training and he was beginning to grow tired already. He leaned against the base of a nearby tree and put his lips over the mouthpiece of his inhaler, sucking in a deep, misty breath as he pressed the button at the top. He sighed as he shoved the hated inhaler back into his pocket. Asthma could be such a bitch.

"Hey! I haven't seen _you _in a while!"

Tai turned to face the speaker and was surprised to see Nara Kisa standing at the entrance of the clearing he had been training in with her hands on her hips. With her shoulder-length blonde hair and sparkling clear blue eyes, she was hard to miss. And now she was grinning as she strolled into the clearing, getting closer to Tai.

"Where've you been?" she asked her former teammate as she leaned against the same tree Tai was resting on.

Tai shrugged. "Around."

"You've never been a man of many words, have you?" Kisa asked, smiling. "Hey! Do you want to spar?"

Rolling his eyes, Tai pushed himself away from the tree and took a battle stance. He was used to the way Kisa's mind worked – going a hundred miles a minute. Kisa stood opposite of him, holding her arms out and waiting for Tai to make the first move. He took his first step and suddenly found himself unable to move. Glancing down at his feet, he instantly saw why.

"That's cheating," Tai spat, his eyes following his shadow, which was now connected to Kisa's.

Kisa only giggled and put her hands to her hips again, forcing Tai to do the same. "I've gotten good at it, haven't I?" Her eyes brightened suddenly and Tai waited patiently for her to say whatever random thing had just popped into her mind. "But there's a way to get out of it!"

Tai's ears perked up at this. He had never heard of a way to get out of the shadow possession jutsu, and now he was curious. "How?"

"There's a super secret technique in one of my daddy's books," Kisa boasted, sounding quite proud of herself. "I can show you, because it's not something I can really _explain_. You'll just have to see."

"All right," Tai agreed, suddenly excited to learn a new secret jutsu. He could be one of the first to be able to successfully escape the shadow possession, and the thought made him nearly giddy with excitement. "Show me."

"This way," Kisa directed as she turned on her heel and began leading the way back to her home.

The Nara home was only a few blocks away from the Uchiha's house, and Tai could have easily found it without Kisa leading the way, especially since Ino used to babysit him and Kyo when they were much younger. She led Tai up the stairs of the quiet house (something he was not at all used to) and into her room, which was covered in pink lace.

"It's somewhere over here," Kisa muttered to herself as she bent down to examine the books on her bookshelf. "Here it is!" she cried as she pulled a thick, leather bound book out from the bottom of her shelf. She carried it over to her bed and plopped it onto her bedspread, raising plumes of dust from the old book.

"What's all in there?" Tai asked curiously, peering over her shoulder as she flipped through the pages.

"All kinds of secret ways to get out of jutsu," Kisa explained. "It's a Nara family heirloom. Technically I'm not supposed to share this with anyone outside of the Nara family, but you're worth it."

A light blush bloomed across Tai's cheeks at Kisa's words and he was suddenly glad he was standing behind her so she couldn't see. He also became aware that they were alone in the house, standing right next to her bed, and a tingling sensation worked its way through Tai's stomach.

"Here you go!" Kisa said, ripping Tai from his thoughts (which were quickly heading south) as she shoved the open book at him. Tai took it, off guard. "Go ahead and read," she added as she took a seat on the edge of the bed.

Tai scanned the page, surprised at the simplicity of the technique. He turned his head to ask if that was really all there was to it and suddenly found his lips covered by Kisa's. His eyes widened in shock as she pushed him down and swung her legs over his hips, never releasing his mouth.

Once the initial shock wore off, Tai's hands found her waist, brushed lightly over them and worked their way up. He briefly wondered how far Kisa was planning to take this and froze. Thoughts of Hideki and Karli crossed his mind and shoved Kisa off of him with more force than he intended. The last thing he wanted was to find himself in the same predicament as his brother.

"What's wrong?" Kisa asked, alarmed.

"Nothing," Tai replied, desperately trying to think up an excuse. "I…I have to go."

Kisa cocked her head to the side, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's _really _wrong?"

Sighing, Tai realized there was no way to escape explaining himself. "Look, it's just my brother, I guess. He…he just…"

"He's an idiot," Kisa finished for him. "Yeah, I've heard the rumors. But you're not your brother, remember?"

Tai blinked, considering her words carefully. She was right, wasn't she? Just because Hideki was his older brother by barely two years didn't mean that he was like him, not in the slightest. In fact, Tai thought to himself, he and Hideki were so incredibly different from each other, it was a wonder they could exist in the same house together, let alone the same planet.

Without bothering to reply to her, Tai leaned forward and pressed his lips firmly against Kisa's, letting the kiss deepen without worrying about his actions coinciding with his brother's. However, there was one thing Tai had forgotten to worry about, and that thing appeared in Kisa's doorway a moment later, carrying her younger brother, Shoyo, on his back.

"Oh man," Shikamaru groaned, raising his free hand to his forehead. "This is going to be such a drag."

-0-

Hideki and Jiro reached the tower together and handed their flags to Kazunori, who looked rather disgruntled. Glancing around, Hideki could see why Kazunori was feeling this way. It was clear he was only expecting one or two people to come out of forest alive, but only one of the seven prospective Jounin didn't make it back.

Kazunori sighed, looking out at the faces of six tired and dirty participants. "Because so many of you survived," Kazunori began, choosing his words carefully, "there will be a no-holds barred battle in the arena tonight, two-against-two. The order in which you will fight will be determined then, all you have to do is show up at eight. The hokage will observe the battles and decide who is best fit to become a Jounin. Got it?"

Six heads nodded in unison and Kazunori stared solemnly back. "Good. Now get home and try to get some rest before you fight."

-0-

Tai shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, standing just outside of the door to his father's office. Goosebumps had broken out on his flesh and a nervous sheen of sweat stood out on his forehead. After Shikamaru had caught them, he had spoken briefly, sounding scarily calm. Tai shuddered as Shikamaru's words replayed in his mind.

_"Look, dealing with this is going to be a drag, so listen. Tell your dad what happened and I won't call and tell him myself, got it?" _

Tai shuddered and reached up to knock on the heavy wooden door. He was thankful that his mother was napping in her room, sleeping off a bad headache (the girls had gotten back from their trip just an hour before), and she would not have to hear about this. The knocks seemed to echo in Tai's head and he breathed deeply on his inhaler to calm his nerves while he waited for the door to open.

Sasuke threw open the door, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. He was feeling pretty sleep deprived thanks to Naruto kicking around in the tree house all night. "What?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow at Tai's obviously nervous expression.

Struggling to keep his asthma under control, Tai took a few ragged breaths before saying, so quickly that it sounded like one word all meshed together, "."

It took a moment for Sasuke to register what had just come out of his son's mouth, and when it finally hit him, he only chuckled lightly. "So?" he replied, clearly finding some sort of amusement in the situation.

Tai stared back at his father quizzically. "What do you mean '_so'?_ Aren't you mad?"

"You're fourteen," Sasuke reminded him, "it's…normal."

"But Hideki…"

Sasuke sighed, glancing off to the side for a moment. "Hideki's Hideki, not you. Just…don't do anything stupid."

"That's it?" Tai asked, bewildered. He was expecting to be yelled at, grounded, _something _other than this.

Shrugging, Sasuke said, "Yeah, that's it." Tai turned to leave, to stunned to reply, but Sasuke spoke once more, and he paused to listen. "By the way, Shikamaru was never going to call. He just said that to scare you."

Tai smacked his palm to his forehead, suddenly feeling like an idiot.

"By the way," Sasuke added, "Hideki's battle starts in about half an hour. Go find Karli and Kyo; we'll all go watch together."

-0-

The seating for the arena was only about a quarter full when the battles began. This phase of the exam was pulled together so quickly, that not a lot of people were notified. Only family, friends, and the hokage himself had shown up to view the three battles that would take place.

The Uchiha's, plus Karli and Hachi, sat in a row together, all staring down at the six contestants. Hideki was easy enough to spot, even from high up in the stands. He was the only black-haired one and his scowl could be easily recognized by anyone. But there was something about him that was different, and Karli noticed it first.

She leaned forward, squinting, trying to get a better look to confirm what she was seeing. Suddenly, she jerked back in her seat, gasping. "His arm! What's wrong with his arm?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes to peer down at his son, trying to see what Karli was talking about. All he could make out was a faint reddish black line going up his arm.

"Hachi, try using Byakugon, see what's wrong," Leiji suggested, leaning as forward as far as her stomach would allow.

Hachi nodded and quickly activated his clan's gift. He stared down intently at Hideki for a moment before blinking the Byakugon away. "His arm has been injured," Hachi said calmly. "If I were to guess, I would say it's a snake bite. It looks like the fang ripped right down his arm. It also looks like he somehow managed to stitch it up. But the stitch job was hasty, they look loose. One wrong move and the wound will open up again."

Leiji bit her lip. She knew her brother had bitten, but the ANBU had failed to tell her how _bad _the bite was. She planned to chew them out later for that.

"He shouldn't be fighting then," Karli said, worry etching its way into her voice. "It could be dangerous."

Kyo reached up and gripped his father's sleeve tightly. "He'll be okay, right dad?"

"He'll be fine," Sasuke assured his youngest son, though he wasn't quite sure if he believed it.

"Sasuke," Sakura nearly whispered, "Should we pull him from the match?"

Shaking his head, Sasuke replied, "There's no point in that. If we interfere, he'll just put up more of a fight. For now, we just have to watch."

Karli jumped as a booming voice reverberated throughout the stadium. "The first match will be between Nagahama Jiro and Uchiha Hideki."

"No," Karli whispered, watching as the other contestants made their way to the waiting area. "He can't be first." She folded her hands together and pressed them to her lips, watching as the two men faced each other and prepared to fight.

"Don't do this, kid," Jiro said, staring straight into Hideki's black eyes. "You're hurt bad and I'm not going easy on you just because you're injured. Drop out now."

"Not a chance," Hideki spat back and, with a sudden burst of adrenaline, he ran at Jiro with his Sharingan activated and a fist ready to punch.

Jiro dodged easily enough and threw a counter punch, knocking Hideki to the ground without getting near his bad arm. "I'm serious, kid. I will fight you."

"Then do it!" Hideki challenged as he jumped back onto his feet, flying at Jiro again. He could already tell that his Sharingan was going to be useless. Jiro was obviously a taijutsu style fighter.

Nevertheless, Hideki flew at him, trying to attack with his good arm. Jiro countered each blow easily, since it was Hideki's dominant arm that had been injured and Hideki realized that he needed to end the battle quickly before his wound, which was already throbbing, began to open again.

It was a desperate move, but Hideki had one ace in the hole. His father taught it to him years ago to use during the Chuunin exams, and he had barely used it since. Now was his chance. Chidori was his last hope.

He allowed Jiro to give him a good blow to the stomach, and Hideki seized the opportunity to race up the side of the wall of the area. Where he stood on the wall, the concrete was lighter, as if it was newer than the rest of the arena, and in the stands Sasuke couldn't help but smirk. He had destroyed that portion of the wall during his own Chuunin exam.

Hideki threw his dominant hand close to the side of the wall and gripped his wrist with the other hand. As he concentrated on building up his chakra in his hand he felt every stitch Jiro had sewn into his arm burst with surprising force. Red, sticky blood poured from the opening wound, dripping down his arm and onto his hand and suddenly a massive burst of chakra erupted from him and he charged at full speed towards Jiro, who was staring, mouth agape.

It wasn't just Jiro who was staring as the Uchiha heir charged at his opponent. Everyone in the stands stared, awestruck, especially Sasuke, for the chakra that was bursting from Hideki's hand was not blue, but bright, bloody red.

Sasuke watched as Hideki delivered the blow to Jiro, who flew back into the wall of the arena with so much force that the man was driven halfway through the concrete. It was clear that this was no ordinary chidori. It seemed that the blood flowing freely from Hideki's arm had supercharged his chakra. Not even Sasuke could produce a blow that hard.

Jiro slumped to the ground, unconscious, as Hideki gripped his arm, panting. His vision was fading fast from all of the blood he was losing (there was already a huge puddle of it around his feet) and he knew he would soon lose consciousness. He glanced up at the stands, panting even heavier, and saw Karli staring intently at him. And just when the proctor announced him as the winner of the match, he fell back, the world swimming away at an alarming rate. He was unconscious before he even hit the ground.

-0-

Two days later, Hideki sat in his bed at home, propped up by pillows and staring longingly at his guitar. He had been brought to the hospital immediately after the battle and, after a few blood transfusions and thirty-five stitches, he was sent home to rest. Now his arm was so stiff he could barely move it, and all he wanted to do was strum a few chords on his beloved guitar.

The door opened and Karli stepped into the room, having just come back from her usual evening walk. She smiled lightly at the way Hideki was pouting and asked, "How's your arm?"

"It hurts," Hideki scoffed. "Can you do me a favor?"

"What?" Karli replied as she slid off her coat (the weather was becoming more chilly as October drew to a close) and placed it in the closet.

"Can you tune my guitar for me?" Hideki asked innocently, trying to hide the sly smile that was attempting to work its way over his features. "I don't want it to get too out of tune."

"Sure," Karli agreed in good nature. Hideki had taught her long ago how to tune a guitar, and he had excitedly discovered that Karli had an ear for music as well. She walked over to where his guitar leaned against the wall and squatted. Grasping her hand around the neck of his guitar, she hoisted herself back up with a small grunt. Moving had become much more difficult lately.

The sudden movement caused something inside the guitar to rattle and Karli stared at it in shock.

"What was that?" she asked Hideki.

He shrugged, wincing at the pain that it brought him. "I don't know. Could you find out?"

"All right," Karli replied, turning the guitar carefully in her hands so the strings faced the floor. She shook it and heard the rattling again. Quirking her eyebrow in confusion, she shook the instrument harder and watched as something small fell from the sound hole, dropping to the carpet with a small _plop. _

Carefully, she set the guitar to the side and squatted once more to try and find the object. Hideki watched in amusement as she spotted what he had so cleverly placed inside the guitar and picked it up. She turned to stare at him with wide eyes and held the object out to him. Gripped firmly between her fingers was a silver ring with a rather large diamond in the center and two smaller diamonds on either side.

She stared at Hideki, speechless, trying to speak but failing.

Hideki grinned sheepishly back at her and rubbed the back of his head with his good arm. "Look, I know that I kind of screwed up in the beginning…but I can change that. So, what do you say?" A light blush crept up to his cheeks and his sheepish grin suddenly transformed into the infamous Uchiha smirk. "Marry me?"

**After a week of writing, I'm proud to say this is probably one of the best (and longest) chapters I've ever written. Aw, Hideki's proposal was just so cute, teehee…Review, please!**


	7. Meteor Shower

**It's peanut butter jelly time!...I am extremely tired. **

"_I am not my own,_

_For I have been made new._

_Please don't let me go._

_I desperately need you."_

_-Owl City_

"Just one more thing," Hideki muttered to himself as he poured a generous amount of hair gel into the palm of his hand. He rubbed his hands together vigorously, spreading the gel evenly, before placing both his hands on top of Tai's head and began to rapidly pull at strands of the fourteen-year old's hair. Once the bed-head look was complete, Hideki stepped back to admire his work and nodded in approval.

The normally prim and neat Tai now wore a white button-up shirt that wasn't tucked into his blue jeans (the fact that the shirt wasn't tucked in was killing Tai slowly but surely on the inside). Over the shirt he wore Hideki's black blazer, also unbuttoned, and Hideki's black converse were tied tightly around his feet.

"I feel like an idiot," Tai spat, resisting the urge the smooth out his short hair.

"You look great!" Hideki countered, clapping his brother on the back. "It's exactly how you're supposed to look for your _first date_."

"You're making too big a deal out of this," Tai deadpanned. "It's just Kisa."

Hideki rolled his eyes. "Nara Kisa is lusted after by everyone your age, you should know that. Why she chose you of all people is beyond me."

Tai attempted to give his brother the infamous Uchiha glare, and failed once again. Out of all of the Uchiha children, only Tai resembled Sakura. Aside from his deep, onyx colored eyes, he was a male copy of his mother, from her skin tone to her smile. It drove him crazy sometimes, especially at times like these when a good, hard glare was necessary, but he learned to manage.

"What are you doing with Karli tonight?" Tai asked to change the subject. Two months had passed since the Jounin exams ended and Karli was already two days overdue for the baby. He had overheard his mother talking to her earlier that day. She had warned the extremely pregnant Karli that she would have another five days before Sakura would be forced to induce her into labor. Now, with the baby so near, Hideki and Karli had decided to go out one last time before the new addition arrived.

Shrugging, Hideki glanced out the window into the snowy December night. "I don't know, probably dinner or something."

"Make it worthwhile," Tai advised, checking the time on his cell phone. His date began in half an hour. "Did you guys decide on a name for her yet?"

"Nope," Hideki replied quickly. He had made Karli promise not to reveal the name of their daughter to anyone in order to surprise his parents. Throwing his arm around his younger brother's shoulders he said, "We should both probably get going. It's getting late."

"Yeah," Tai agreed, allowing his brother to drag him down the stairs and into the living room by his neck. On the plush white couch sat Karli, Leiji, and Kyo, and they all looked up as the two brothers descended the stairs.

"Come on, Karli," Hideki said, offering his hand to his wife. They had been married a week after Hideki's clever proposal, although there was no wedding. The two had simply signed a marriage certificate with the hokage as their witness.

Hideki bent down and slid his hand around the back of Karli's waist. She leaned back against him as he helped her to stand. Lately, even something as simple as standing or sitting had become a challenge for Karli. She was sick of being pregnant at this point, and had confessed many times (mostly out of frustration) that she just wanted the kid out of her.

Once she was righted and steady on her feet, Hideki threw his now healed arm around her shoulders and said, "Let's go. You pick the place."

"All right," Karli agreed as Hideki led her out into the snowy night.

Once the front door clicked shut, Tai turned and glanced anxiously at Leiji. "Did mom and dad leave already?" he asked cautiously, knowing his mother would want to document every moment of this 'wondrous' event.

Leiji nodded. "They already left for Naruto's Christmas party," she said. Kyo bounced excitedly at this. Christmas was only a week away, which meant his eleventh birthday was also. Sakura always called Kyo her "Favorite Christmas Present", even though he was technically born on the twenty-sixth.

"Good," Tai replied, breathing a sigh of relief. He could leave for his date in peace. But as he turned to leave, Leiji stood from the couch as quickly as her seven-month pregnant belly would allow her and flashed the camera she had been hiding behind her back.

"Sorry, but mom's making me do this," she said as she held the camera up to her face. "Now smile!"

Tai scowled as the camera clicked and he hunched against the doorframe of the front the door. "How long are you staying here, anyway?" he asked. Leiji had arrived at the Uchiha house earlier that day with a full suitcase, explaining that Hachi had to go on an out-of-village mission and didn't want her to be at the apartment alone.

Leiji shrugged, "Probably a week or so." She sighed and pouted lightly. "I miss my room though. The basement sucks." Leiji's old room had been converted into a nursery for the baby that would be arriving any day now and so she was forced to sleep on an air mattress in her father's basement office.

"Sucks for you," Tai replied in a monotone before stepping out into the snow to pick up his date for the evening.

-0-

An hour later, the Uzumaki's Christmas party was in full swing. Hinata stood in a corner of the room chatting and giggling with Sakura about the strange cases they always got at the hospital during the holiday season. Sasuke stood with Naruto near the center of the room, where the village elders would occasionally pop up and make small talk with them.

"Don't look so bored, Sasuke!" Naruto, who had swallowed a good amount of eggnog, demanded as he elbowed Sasuke in the side. "This is a party! My party! And because it's my party you have to go by my rules and have fun!"

"Shut up, Naruto. You're drunk," Sasuke spat back. He had his own glass of eggnog in his hand, thoug he had yet to have any.

"That's because it's a party!" Naruto informed him. "Now chug!"

"We are not teenagers," Sasuke replied, feeling his dignity begin to slip away. This was a feeling he was used to, seeing as Naruto caused it nearly every day.

"Sasuke," Naruto slurred, "I have a present for you!"

"A present?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow with mild curiosity.

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted as he reached into his pocket and withdrew a small box. He grabbed Sasuke's wrist and forced the Uchiha's palm open before setting the box in it. "Open it!"

"All right, all right," Sasuke muttered, showing as much disinterest as possible despite the fact that he truly was curious now. He removed the thin, silver paper and stared the box that read _Konoha Jewelers _on top. Glancing at the drunken hokage, he said, "Isn't this for Hinata?"

Shaking his head viciously, Naruto replied, "Nope. It's for you. I had it made special."

Sasuke stared skeptically at his best friend before removing the top of the box and peering inside. What he saw caused him to take in a sharp breath and stare up at Naruto in honest surprise. Nestled in the soft cotton padding of the box was an army dog tag, much like the one Hideki always wore with the Uchiha symbol on it. The symbol was on this tag too, although it was much smaller, and underneath the Uchiha crest, etched in perfect, tiny letters, was _Grandfather._

Naruto reached into his shirt and pulled out his own dog tag on a chain, an almost exact replica of the one he had just given Sasuke, who was currently standing speechless. "I got one when Kimaru was born," Naruto explained. "I thought it'd be cool if we had ones that matched!"

"You're such a loser," Sasuke replied purely out of habit. But nevertheless, he withdrew the dog tag on its beaded chain from the box and pulled it over his head. It came to a rest in the middle of his breastbone, and he couldn't help but smirk at it.

Sasuke opened his mouth to thank Naruto for actually being thoughtful – for once- when Sakura's panicked voice cut through the excited babble of the party guests. "Sasuke!"

"What?" Sasuke replied, alarmed by his wife's sudden outburst. This must be it, he thought to himself. Karli was having the baby now. "Is it Karli?" he asked more calmly as Sakura approached.

She shook her head rapidly, her eyes filled worry and fear and Sasuke felt the first tingles of worry etch their way through his brow.

"It's _Leiji,"_ Sakura cried, and Sasuke could now see tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

"What happened to Leiji?" Sasuke growled. His fatherly instincts were beginning to kick in as he felt panic begin to rise in his chest.

Sakura shook her head again, her way of saying that she didn't know. "Kyo just called," she explained as calmly as she could. "He said she just…_doubled over_ and demanded to be taken to the hospital."

"Is she there now?" Sasuke demanded, staring intently down at his wife.

Sakura nodded. "But Sasuke, Hachi needs to know about this, and no one knows where he is right now!"

"I'll get an ANBU squad to look for him right now," Naruto cut in as he whipped his cell phone out of his pocket. The sudden situation seemed to have sobered the hokage, and he looked his best friends with concern his eyes. "Go see her. Don't worry about Hachi; I'll take care of finding him."

"Thank you, Naruto," Sasuke said sincerely as he slid an arm around Sakura's waist and hastily headed for the door.

-0-

"Please be okay, Leiji," Kyo begged as his sister winced once again in her hospital bed. "Please, please, please be okay!"

"Calm down, Kyo," Leiji replied, ignoring another bolt of pain that shot through her abdomen at lightning speed. "I'll be okay." It was a lie, and she knew it. Nothing good could come out of pain like this. It had happened so suddenly that at first, Leiji had thought she imagined it. She had gotten up off the couch she had been sharing with Kyo to go make some popcorn for the two of them, when, out of nowhere, an intense stabbing pain exploded inside of her. She had doubled over, eyes wide with shock, and waited for it to go away. It didn't. Instead, the pain washed over her in rolling, crashing waves until she couldn't take it anymore and demanded Kyo to bring her here.

The hospital was buzzing with activity now because of her. Doctors and nurses ran at top speed throughout the hall. A nurse had already come in and taken a blood sample, and an ultrasound technician had come in as well to try and find the source of the pain. Now, as blood was being examined, and ultrasound images were being looked over, Leiji and Kyo waited alone for their parents to arrive.

Sasuke burst through the door first, followed by Sakura who was talking rapidly with Leiji's doctor, concern showing on both of their faces.

"What happened?" Sasuke demanded as he rushed to his only daughter's side.

"It just…started hurting," Leiji explained as best she could. She didn't really _know_ what had happened; she was waiting for the doctors to tell her that part.

Leiji's doctor, Dr. Ootori, shoved his glasses up his nose and glanced once more over his clipboard. "Uchi-uh-Hyuuga-san," he began, unsure of how to address the only daughter of the Uchiha clan, "what I have to say may frighten you." Leiji only stared at him levelly, and he took this as a cue to go on. "It appears that you have gone into premature labor."

Biting his lip, Sasuke whipped his head from Dr. Ootori to Leiji, who was masking her fear as best as she could. "What can be done?" he asked slowly, glancing at Sakura. Surely she would have the solution to this. But she only shook her head, her pink hair forming a halo around her face.

"This isn't my area of expertise," Sakura explained, "I focus on trauma. This…is different."

Dr. Ootori nodded and stepped closer to Leiji's bedside. "Now," he began, "clearly, you can't give birth now, you are barely at twenty-eight weeks and the child's chance of survival would be slim, if any. As a solution to this, I can give you an experimental injection to stop the labor. The formula has been tweaked many times, but it hasn't been released for standard use yet.

"If you agree to this injection, I must warn you that there are many side effects we have seen, such as racing heart, dizziness, and fainting. The decision is entirely up to you."

Leiji thought this over carefully, glancing to her father from time to time, hoping he would offer a solution. She saw almost immediately in his eyes that he was leaving this decision to her.

After a long sigh, she glanced back up at her doctor and asked, "What happens if I don't have the injection?"

"You will give birth tonight and the child would most likely die," Dr. Ootori replied bluntly.

Quietly, Leiji stared down at her hands, contemplating, until a sudden, shooting burst of pain exploded in her abdomen and she bent forward, clutching her stomach. "Give me the injection," she demanded, her voice coming out in short, gasping huffs. "Now!"

"Of course," Dr. Ootori replied calmly as he turned on his heel and stepped out of the room with Sakura following close behind, shooting off more questions about the injection at a nearly inhuman rate.

"Are you sure about this?" Sasuke asked his daughter once they were gone.

"Yeah," Kyo cut in. "It sounds scary."

"I'm sure," Leiji replied. She looked up at her father with frightened eyes and asked, "Where's Hachi?"

"Naruto has the ANBU out looking for him," Sasuke explained as he watched her hand reach out to grab his. Her fingers curled around his childishly and Sasuke realized just how terrified his daughter really was. Hoping to comfort her, he also added, "We called Hideki and Tai. They should be coming too."

"Why is this happening?" Leiji groaned as she leaned back into her pillows. Her pregnancy had been hard enough on her, the way it made her so sick and then the bed rest on top of it all. And now this, premature labor, it was like a slap in the face to her.

The doctor walked briskly back into the room armed with a syringe filled with a clear liquid. As Dr. Ootori stood by Leiji, cleaning her arm with a cotton swab, he warned, "This will hurt. And I must remind you that there is no guarantee that this will work."

"Just do it," Leiji spat back. She winced as the slender needle wormed its way through her flesh and inhaled sharply when she felt the cool liquid flow freely into her vein.

After the shot was given, Dr. Ootori tossed the syringe into a biohazard bin and went to work attaching an oxygen reader to Leiji's finger as well as strapping a heart monitor to her arm. As he worked he explained that a nurse would be coming in every twenty minutes or so to do an ultrasound just make sure everything was okay with the baby. He also added to press the call button immediately if she felt something even close to a contraction. When he finished speaking to the young Uchiha, he turned to her parents.

"We intend on keeping her overnight for observation," the doctor said at the same time Hideki, Karli, and Tai wandered into the room. "If her signs of labor are gone by morning, she can go home."

"Labor?" Karli cried, shocked. "That's impossible, you…you can't be in labor!"

"I was, for a while at least," Leiji replied as she poked at the injection site on her arm. "But I'm fine now, really." As if contradicting her, the heart monitor that stood by her bed suddenly began to beep at an alarming pace. Leiji only stared at it with confusion in her onyx eyes as her hand went to rest over her heart.

"It's just one of the side effects," Sakura piped up, feeling relief flood through her body. "It just means the injection is working." She took a moment then to glance at all of her children, from Kyo, who was standing nervously in a corner, to Hideki, who had his arm protectively around Karli, to Tai, who was stoic as ever, and finally to Leiji, who was struggling to keep a brave face. Sighing, she finally said, "Why don't you head home, boys? It's getting late." Before they even had a chance to respond, she placed a hand on Sasuke's arm and said, "There's coffee downstairs, we should get some. It's going to be a long night."

Sasuke nodded and allowed his wife to lead him out of Leiji's room with the doctor ducking out close behind.

"Come on, Kyo," Hideki said as he reached out for his youngest brother's hand. "Leiji will be fine." He led Kyo out of the room with Tai trailing close behind. Karli hesitated, waited until the boys were gone, and walked to Leiji's bedside.

"It's not fair, you know," she said quietly, her eyes shifting to look at all of the medical equipment that was crowding the room.

"What's not fair?" Leiji asked, genuinely confused. A cold sweat began to break out on her brow and she reached up to wipe it away with a hand that wasn't covered in medical equipment.

"It's not fair that I didn't plan to have a baby, and the whole process has been flawless for me. It's not fair that you have the means to have a baby, and everything that could possibly go wrong for you has been going wrong," Karli explained, her voice sounding far-off as she spoke. "It's just not fair."

"It's just _life,"_ Leiji replied light-heartedly as she stared down at her hands. "It just…happens."

She looked as though she were about to say something else, but Hideki popped his head into the room and interrupted. "You coming, Karli?"

"Yes," Karli said. She waddled to the door to meet up with Hideki then turned back to Leiji, offering her a light smile. "I'm sure you'll be fine," she said and left.

Half an hour later, Sasuke sauntered back into his daughter's room alone since Sakura had been called into the OR to perform an emergency operation. He figured she had had enough time alone, and at the moment, the thought of leaving Leiji alone in her condition nearly sickened him. She needed company. Wordlessly, he perched at the edge of Leiji's bed as she watched him silently, waiting for him to speak.

"Are you…okay?" Sasuke asked slowly. He really wanted to ask if she had had any more contractions, but couldn't quite bring himself to ask directly. The thought of his only daughter being pregnant still eluded him, and he had a hard time accepting the fact.

"I'm fine," Leiji replied bitterly. Her heart was still racing, and every once in a while she'd feel a chill and shiver, but she was no longer in pain.

"Good."

"Have you heard anything about Hachi?" She was playing with her hands now, picking lightly at the oxygen reader clipped to her right pointer finger.

"Naruto called," Sasuke admitted. "They're still searching."

Suddenly Leiji threw her arms around her father's shoulders and buried her face in his neck, allowing the tears she had been holding back for hours flow freely. The gesture was so childlike- so reminiscent of a younger Leiji- that Sasuke couldn't help but smirk lightly as he wrapped his arms around her and held his daughter tightly. He gently stroked her silky smooth hair, a gesture that had always been a sure-fire way to calm her, and tried to think of something comforting to say.

"They'll find him," Sasuke tried. "Naruto sent out more ANBU."

Somehow this caused Leiji to only cry harder. All the stress that had been building up inside her for the past seven months had broken through the dam in her mind, and she discovered she wouldn't be able to stop crying even if she wanted to. She began to take in sobbing breaths that caused her chest to hitch violently with each inhale. She was aware that her tears had completely soaked the shoulder of her father's shirt, and yet she still couldn't bring herself to stop.

Sudden alarm began to rise in Sasuke's chest. His daughter's violent tears surely could not be helping her condition, and he feared they would only make things worse. Unsure of what else to do, he held her tighter and said, "Leiji, calm down."

No luck. If anything, her sobs had only grown louder.

"Come on, Leiji," Sasuke tried again. "Stop crying, this could be dangerous for-."

Sasuke froze as he felt Leiji go rigid against him, her sobs stopping as suddenly as they had started. She drew in a sharp, startled breath and pulled back from her father, her eyes wide with fear and pain.

Sasuke didn't need to ask what had happened. He had seen this look on Sakura's face enough times to be able to identify it on any woman. Her water had broken. And as his daughter sat in stunned, shocked silence, Sasuke reached over and slammed his fist onto the call button.

**I am SO SORRY for the wait! I've just been extremely busy with student teaching (yes I'm becoming a teacher) and school and obsessing over a new anime series (but that's not important…haha). Anyway, I promise I won't keep you waiting for so long next time! For now, just enjoy this chapter and REVIEW s'il vous plait (that's French for 'please')! **


	8. Blackbird

***Peeks out from behind a wall* Hi everybody…I haven't been gone that long, right?...Right? Oh well, the past is the past, and the point is I'm here now, and will be for at least the summer! Classes for next semester depend on how often I'll be able to update over fall. I'm taking a lot of writing courses, and they're sucking away my creativity. But enough rambling! It's (finally) time for the moment you all have been waiting for! **

"_Blackbird singing in the dead of night, _

_Take these broken wings and learn to fly._

_All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise._

_Blackbird singing in the dead of night,_

_Take these sunken eyes and learn to see._

_All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free."_

_-The Beatles _

The room was far too quiet. Sasuke sat in a cold metal chair, clutching tasteless hospital coffee that had long since cooled in his hands as he stared absently at the abandoned equipment that just moments before had been hooked up to his only daughter. The nurses had come immediately after Sasuke had punched, and broken, the call button, and were followed quickly by Dr. Ootori. The scene replayed itself over and over in Sasuke's mind. Nurses had hooked and unhooked all kinds of things up to Leiji, all while talking in rapid, clipped voices and after a few minutes, Dr. Ootori called for silence and demanded that she be taken to the operating room immediately. They had no other choice. They would have to perform a cesarean and hope for the best.

As they were rolling Leiji out of the room, she turned to her father with pleading eyes and said in a broken voice, "Find Hachi. Please."

Sakura had still not come out of her emergency surgery, and Sasuke had quietly asked one of the nurses to not tell her what was happening until she was done. He didn't want her to panic and lose focus. He considered calling the boys and giving them an update, but he figured they would be asleep already, and he didn't want to risk waking them. They would know soon enough anyway. As for Hachi, there wasn't much Sasuke could do but sit and wait. Naruto was sending Sasuke text messages every few minutes with updates, but so far the ANBU had had no luck in locating the Jounin.

As Sasuke leaned back in his chair and sighed, he thought about calling Karin and letting her know what was happening, although chances were she already knew everything from Naruto. He turned his phone over and over in his hands and decided he would have to swallow his pride and call the people he really needed to call: Neji and Tenten.

Every dial tone was agony in Sasuke's ears as he gritted his teeth and waited for the Hyuuga to pick up. It was nearly two in the morning, surely they were sound asleep. However, after a couple of rings the groggy Hyuuga's voice sounded on the other end, muttering something about how "this better be good".

"Neji," Sasuke said, resisting the urge to spit venom into the name.

"Uchiha?" More alert now, Neji demanded, "What do you want?"

Sasuke pressed his lips together before speaking, unsure of what to say. Finally he managed to come up with a single phrase, "It's Leiji."

"What about her?" Neji, who had vehemently opposed the pregnancy from the start, asked warily.

To Sasuke's horror, he began to feel a sob working its way through his chest, threatening to explode. He clasped a hand over his mouth and inhaled deeply, trying to force it away. His pride had been injured enough that day. This was the last thing he needed**. **

After a few deep breaths, he managed to choke out, "Come to the hospital", and hung up as quickly as he could, accidently sending his phone flying across the room. It bounced against the wall and came crashing to the floor, shattering the screen. Sasuke shook his head, uncaring. Cell phones could be replaced, daughters could not.

The sound of running footsteps echoed in the hallway. Out of curiosity, and fearing the worst, Sasuke stood and stuck his head out of the room only to be grabbed by two dirt-crusted hands.

"Where is she?" Hachi demanded, nearly shaking his father-in-law as he spoke. "What _happened?"_

"They're not sure," Sasuke replied, and the calmness in his voice surprised him. "She's in surgery."

"Surgery?" Hachi cried out in shock. He began pacing the floor, wringing his dirty hands together anxiously as he walked. "Why?"

"It was the only way to," Sasuke swallowed, "to save them." He glanced over the young Hyuuga and suddenly noticed he was caked with dusty brown dirt from head to toe. "Why are you so dirty?"

"It was the mission," Hachi replied, although his voice seemed a thousand miles away. "We discovered a tunnel, and we thought it was a rouge ninja hideout, so we were digging through it. But that's not important! How long has she been in there?"

Sasuke stepped forward and placed both hands on Hachi's shoulders and looked him dead in the eye, stopping his nervous pacing. "Calm _down. _She's been in there for almost an hour. The doctors should be done soon, and the last thing _my _daughter needs when she wakes up is _you _freaking out about this." He jerked his head in the direction of the room's private bathroom. "Go get yourself cleaned up."

Hachi's shoulders slumped as Sasuke spoke, and he wordlessly made his way to the bathroom. Sasuke was right, and he knew it. The least he could do was take a quick shower to calm himself and make him look presentable again.

-0-

Thirty painfully slow**, **minutes dragged by and Sasuke and Hachi watched every tick of the clock. By the time Dr. Ootori and the nurses had wheeled the now sleeping Leiji back to the room, Neji, Tenten, and their sixteen year-old daughter Sumomo had arrived and Sakura had returned from her surgery.

"How are they?" Sakura asked the doctor as the nurses repositioned Leiji's bed in its original spot.

"Leiji will make a full recovery. She should wake up within the hour," Dr. Ootori replied smoothly.

"And the child?" Sakura pressed.

The doctor nodded towards Hachi. "May I speak to you in private for a moment?"

Hachi drew in a sharp breath. He knew it was never good when a doctor to speak to someone in private. Nevertheless, he found himself nodding and being led out into the hallway, away from his family.

Once the door was firmly shut behind Hachi and the doctor, Neji scoffed, "I knew the child would die."

"You don't know that the baby's dead!" Tenten snapped, and suddenly all eyes were on her. "I'm sorry, Neji, but I'm sick and tired of you talking about all of this 'kekkei genkai shouldn't mix' nonsense."

Sasuke could help but smirk lightly at this. At least he and Neji agreed on something.

"I'm tired of hearing it from Sasuke too," Sakura agreed with a sigh, earning a bit of a side-glare from her husband. "Besides, didn't the Byakugon and Sharingan come from the same ancestor? Some kind of genetic mixing would have had to occur there."

"While it's true that the Sharingan did derive from the Byakugon," Neji paused to give Sasuke a superior smirk, "no genetic mixing occurred. The Sharingan is simply a result of hundreds of years of evolution."

"And evolution only occurs when it's improving something," Sasuke muttered under his breath. Sakura nudged him in the ribs.

"That's not the point," she said as she tiredly rubbed her eyes. "Now, instead of arguing, why don't we all just sit _calmly_ and wait for Hachi to come back? I'm sure he'll tell us what's happening. Besides, the last thing Leiji needs when she wakes up is for you two to be arguing again."

The two men quieted and Neji looked down at his hands. Sasuke, however, looked across the room to his daughter. Her eyes were closed, and her face erased of any feeling of fear she may had felt before then. Her head rolled slightly to the right, her raven black hair forming a dark halo around her pale skin. With her arms resting at her sides and all kinds of hospital machinery hooked up to her, she seemed so vulnerable to Sasuke. He glanced at Sakura who gave him a light smile and rested her hand on his knee.

A moment later the door opened and Dr. Ootori, followed by Hachi, stepped inside. "Page me when she wakes up," the doctor instructed as he examined Leiji's heart rate. "I want to make sure she is all right when she's conscious."

"Wait!" Sakura cried, standing quickly as the doctor turned to leave the room. He paused, waiting for her to continue. "Do you know what caused the labor to start? Was there anything wrong at all?"

"Not that I could see," Dr. Ootori replied simply. "Medically speaking, we don't even know what causes normal labor, let alone premature labor. Call it a fluke, a twist of fate, what have you. I can't explain it." With that, he left to tend to his other patients.

"Hachi, what did the doctor say to you?" Sumomo asked as she reached out to take her brother's hand.

Hachi sighed. "Nothing much." He let go of his sister and walked over to Leiji's side. He sat heavily on the edge of the hard hospital bed and took her hand in his. "They're not sure if he's going to make it. They…they don't think he's strong enough."

"It's a boy?" Sakura asked gently.

"Yes," Hachi replied. "They've given him steroids to help his lungs and have him hooked up to life support, but the doctor…didn't sound hopeful."

"I told you this was a bad idea," Neji spat. "The pregnancy should have terminated from the start."

"Quiet father," Hachi said, and the calmness in his voice surprised even him.

"Yeah, dad," Sumomo added. "_I'm _excited to have a nephew, and I can't wait to see him!" She paused and glanced at her brother hopefully. "_Can _we see him?"

Hachi brushed a few loose strands of hair off of Leiji's forehead. "The doctor said we can once Leiji wakes up."

Sakura glanced at Sasuke and smiled gently. "Should we get the boys over here? I'm sure they'll want to see him too. I don't think they'll mind being woken up for this."

"Hn," Sasuke nodded and reached into his pocket for his phone. Remembering that he had broken it, he tried to play it cool and said, "You should call them."

"Where's your phone?" Sakura asked.

Suddenly Sasuke pretended to be fascinated by the heart monitor that was beeping rhythmically. "It..died."

"All right," Sakura said with a shrug and disappeared into the hall to make the call.

The door clicked shut and Leiji's eyes fluttered slowly open. Everyone watched and waited for her to fully regain her consciousness, and when her vision cleared the sight of everyone staring made her shoot up into a sitting position. The sudden movement mixed with the anesthesia that had not yet worn completely off caused a wave of dizziness to wash over and she pressed her palm to her forehead. "Oh God, what happened?" she moaned.

"Lay down," Hachi instructed. He placed a hand on the back of Leiji's head and helped her back down onto the pillow. "You're in the hospital, remember?"

"I remember," Leiji replied groggily. But something wasn't right. Slowly, cautiously, Leiji trailed her fingers over her stomach. Over her blue hospital gown, she felt a raised line across her abdomen, broken by train track-like stitches. The wound was highly sensitive to her touch and she jerked her hands back. "_Oh_."

"Leiji," Sasuke said, rising from his seat. "Listen, it's okay."

"It is?" Leiji asked, still a bit disoriented.

Hachi took Leiji's hands in his and squatted down to her level. "The baby's okay. Dr. Ootori said we could go see him after he made sure you were okay. Do you want to see him?"

"He's okay?"

"No," Neji spat. "In fact he's probably going to die. I knew it from the start that-."

"Enough, Neji," Tenten interrupted. She held up a hand to keep Neji from saying more and turned to Leiji. "Don't worry, he's in good hands. Someone should get the doctor so she can talk to someone who actually _knows_ what's happening."

Sasuke took this as his cue and stepped out into the hallway, where Sakura and Dr. Ootori were talking in rapid, hushed voices.

"What happened?" Sasuke demanded as he approached him.

"The child's heart stopped," Dr. Ootori explained. "But it's all right now. He's stable for the time being. Is Leiji awake yet?"

"Hn," Sasuke nodded as Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I was just telling Dr. Ootori that…well," she glanced down at her feet, "Leiji and Hachi…they don't need to know about the heart stopping. It's under control now, so…" she trailed off, shifting uncomfortably as she continued to stare at her shoes.

"Right," Sasuke agreed as the doctor began to lead them back to the room. "What about the boys?"

"They're on their way," Sakura said, never letting go of Sasuke's arm. She glanced at the clock as they stepped back into the room. It was just past four in the morning. The first few gray lights of dawn would be appearing soon.

"Hello, Leiji," Dr. Ootori greeted pleasantly as he motioned Hachi away. He made himself busy checking the several monitors hooked up to various points on her body before speaking again. "You seem stable enough. Your brothers are on their way. Do you want to wait for them to get here before you see your son?"

"Okay," Leiji said distantly.

Dr. Ootori glanced at the two families, crowded into a corner of the tiny hospital room. "Would you all mind stepping out into the hallway for just a moment? I'd like to speak to Leiji and Hachi alone."

"Of course," Sakura said. She offered to take Tenten and Neji down to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee, and they both gratefully agreed. Sasuke and Sumomo tagged along behind them, and as Sasuke pulled the door shut behind them he gave Leiji a quick smirk.

Once the door clicked shut, Dr. Ootori quickly got down to business. "I don't want to lie to you two," he said, and his finger tapped rapidly on his clipboard as he spoke. "The child's condition is not good. It would be nothing short of a miracle if he survived this. Life support can only do so much, and we must be careful with the steroid doses we're giving him. As of right now, we're not sure if he is even able to breathe without the help of the life support. So, when you see him, you two will have a very important decision to make. You can elect to keep him on the life support, or, if you wish, we can take him off and let him breathe naturally."

"But you just said you weren't sure if he could breathe on his own," Hachi argued. He took Leiji's hand in his and squeezed, but her hand remained limp as she stared almost past the doctor into space.

"I'm not," Dr. Ootori agreed. "However, we won't know unless we try. The decision will be entirely up to you. Think about it for awhile. When you're holding him, maybe the decision will come to you." He bowed curtly and turned for the door. "I'll leave you two be for now. When the others arrive, I'll take everyone up to the NICU."

The doctor left and Hachi put a hand on Leiji's shoulder. "Leiji, what do you think?"

"Don't touch me."

Hachi removed his hand purely out of shock and gave his wife a confused stare. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm fine," she spat.

Exhausted, Hachi slumped into a chair by Leiji's bed and sighed. Now was not the time to press her. Whatever was bothering her, he could figure that out later. Perhaps all she needed was to see her baby. Maybe that was what they both needed right then, more than anything else.

A few moments of silence passed, then three rapid knocks sounded at the door and Sakura came prancing in pushing a wheelchair and singing, "Let's go see the baby!"

Silently, and with the help of Hachi and her mother, Leiji was pulled into the wheelchair and made more comfortable with a pillow placed behind her back. Being wheeled out into the hallway reminded her of the last time she was a patient at that hospital, nearly four years ago. She had been wheeled down the same hallway many times for scans, x-rays, and physical therapy. She hated wheelchairs.

Hideki, Karli, Tai and Kyo had joined the group, and they waited at the elevator for them to catch up. As they all squeezed into the elevator and it began to pull them up to the next floor, Karli turned to Leiji and whispered, "See? It's not fair. It's just not."

"No, it's not," Leiji agreed as she rested her cheek against her fist. The doors slid open and Sakura happily lead the way, pushing Leiji, to an open door at the end of the hall, where Dr. Ootori waited patiently.

Once everyone had gathered around the doctor, he led them into the back of the room where a glass fish tank-like case on wheels sat, surrounded by all kinds of big machines with blinking. The sound of rushing air sounded rhythmically from one of the machines, and it wasn't hard for Leiji to guess that that was the machine keeping her son breathing.

Slowly, Dr. Ootori lifted a tiny, squirming thing swathed in thick blue blankets from the tank and carefully placed the bundle in Leiji's arms. "Everyone can hold him," he said gently. "Just please keep in mind how fragile he is."

Leiji barely heard a word the doctor said as she stared down at her son. The skin of his face, nearly translucent, was almost completely covered by an oxygen mask. Thick deep brown hair stuck up in wispy spikes in every direction. One tiny hand poked out from the blankets and she held out her own hand to him. His small fingers grasped her pinky, and his grip seemed strong to her. Like a fighter.

His eyes fluttered open for a moment and Leiji gasped at the flash of red behind his pale eyelids. Hachi, who was leaning over the side of the wheelchair to get a good luck at his son, jumped at the sight as well.

"What's wrong with his eyes?" Leiji asked, her voice nearly a monotone. Curious, Sasuke and Neji both leaned over her shoulders to see what she was talking about.

"Yes, about that," Dr. Ootori began. He bent down and placed two fingers around one of the infant's eyes and carefully pried it open. The iris and pupil were blood red, much like the Hyuuga's eyes were lavender. The infant let out a small, mewling cry as he tried to close his eye and the doctor gently let him go. "As you can see, they're red. I'm not sure why. I'm not even sure if a genetic scientist could explain why. My best bet is that it's because of the mixing of the kekkei genkai."

"Can he _see?"_ Hachi asked, staring at the doctor with pleading eyes.

"I don't know," Dr. Ootori admitted. "Right now it is too soon to test for blindness. It's something we will have to wait out." He almost added 'if he survives', but quickly decided against it. By the looks on everyone's faces, they were already thinking it anyway.

The infant was carefully passed around to each family member, and everyone took their time holding him. Sakura commented on his weight, which was just barely at two pounds, and when Tenten's turn came, she marveled at his size, fourteen inches. One by one everyone had their turn with the newest addiction to the Hyuuga and Uchiha family, and when Karli's turn came she suddenly felt heavy with guilt for being so grateful that her own child would be born healthy.

She brushed a finger over her nephew's cheek and smiled. She could already tell he and his unborn cousin would be good friends. Suddenly every muscle locked into place and she froze. Squeezing her eyes shut, she whispered, "Somebody take him, oh God, somebody take him _please."_

Hachi plucked the child from her arms as Hideki grabbed her grabbed her arm to help her stay steady. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Sakura rolled her eyes as she grabbed a spare wheelchair folded in the corner of the room. "Men are such idiots at times like these," she said to Tenten, who laughed and agreed. The two women helped Karli lower herself into the chair and Sakura playfully punched her in the arm. "I guess we won't be inducing you after all!"

Whipping his head back and forth from his mother to Karli, Hideki visibly paled as he said, "Inducing? Wait, do you mean-?"

"Like I said," Sakura said happily as she waved in a nurse from the hallway, "men are idiots in times like these."

As Sakura instructed the nurse on which delivery room to take Karli too, Sasuke reached out and placed a firm hand on his son's shoulder. "Breathe," he instructed, and Hideki discovered that he had been holding his breath. "Go," Sasuke urged, giving Hideki's shoulder a squeeze. "Things are okay here."

"What do I do, dad?" Hideki whispered**. **

Sasuke shrugged. "Just be there."

"Right," Hideki said with a determined nod. He took one step forward, paused, and turned to look sheepishly back at his father. "How do I do that?"

Smirking, Sasuke gave Hideki a light push. "Just go. You'll figure it out."

After Hideki had disappeared along with Karli and the nurse, Hachi placed the child back in Leiji's arms. "Well," he began, "he needs a name. We can't just keep calling him 'he'."

"Right," Leiji agreed as she stared down at the bundle in her arms. He made another weak effort to grab at her hand, and once again his grip surprised her. "You come from a long line of fighters," she told the infant. His eyes fluttered open once more and seemed to focus on her for just a split second before closing again. "The Haruno's, the Uchiha's, the Hyuuga's," she continued. "We're all fighters. You're stuck with this crazy family, kid," she sniffed, "you're going to be a fighter too."

"Haru," Hachi said suddenly.

"Haru Uchiha-Hyuuga," Leiji added. "Who says you can't have two last names? They're fighter names. And you need all of the fight you can get."

In the back of the room, Sasuke risked a glance at Neji. His arms were still crossed defiantly, but his lavender eyes had softened since they had entered the room. Perhaps he was coming around. He had certainly seemed accepting enough when his turn to hold the baby – _Haru _– had come. This could work out after all, Sasuke thought as he turned his attention back to his grandson. The word seemed strange to him still. He felt far too young to be grandfather, but he supposed he should have been expecting this. After all, he was eighteen the first time he held Leiji in his arms. And now, here she was, twenty years later, holding her own baby.

Dr. Ootori stepped forward, serious once more. "Have you come to a decision about the life support?"

"Think carefully," Sakura added. "You have to be sure about your answer."

"What decision?" Sumomo cut in. She had made herself as silent as possible up until, taking things as they came and just enjoying the presence of her new nephew, but now she was beginning to feel out of the loop. "Mom, what are they talking about?"

"Leiji and Hachi need to decide if they want to keep the baby – I mean Haru – on life support or not," Tenten explained as she motioned to the doorway of the room. "Come on. We should wait in the hall. This is a pretty big decision."

"I think," Leiji began as Tenten, Neji, and Sumomo left, "that if he's really not going to make it," tears began to cloud her vision as she spoke and she struggled to keep her voice steady, "then he should at least experience life without being hooked up to all kinds of machines."

"Yes," Hachi agreed with a nod. "I think so too."

"All right," Dr. Ootori said with a nod. He went to the machines and began flipping switches. The whirring sounds and the steady whoosh of air all quieted and the room became silent as the doctor lifted the oxygen off of the child's face, revealing his beautiful face to the world.

"What happens now?" Leiji asked, her voice wavering.

"We wait," Dr. Ootori explained. "The next twenty-four hours will be very crucial. We'll be keeping a close eye on him. If he makes it for that long, we'll be at least out of the woods." He lifted Haru from Leiji's arms and carefully placed him back in the tank. "Now," he said with a small smile, "I think what everyone needs is some sleep."

-0-

The delivery room was far too bare for Karli's taste. The walls were too white, and the furniture was too sterile. The only thing to break the hospital neatness was a single framed picture of a pink elephant. Karli hated elephants.

On the bright side, the nurse who had brought her and Hideki to this accursed room had given her a nice, big epidural. She couldn't feel a thing from the waist down, and for that she was grateful. Ever since that first pang of pain she had felt holding the baby, it had begun to increase rapidly. Her doctor had already been in to see her, and she said she was quite surprised. She said labor didn't usually happen so quickly, especially with first-time mothers. She had assured both Hideki and Karli that it wouldn't be much longer.

"Are you okay?" Karli asked as she turned her head away from the atrocious pink elephant.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Hideki, whose face was buried in his hands, replied.

"I'm okay," Karli assured him. "But are you?"

Hideki stayed quiet for a moment then nodded. "Yeah. Yeah I'm okay."

"Good," she said. Suddenly, her hands grasped the bed sheets so tightly her knuckles turned bone white as a contraction strong enough to overpower the epidural worked its way through her abdomen. "Ah. I'm ready to do this."

"I think it's your doctor's job to tell you when you're ready," Hideki smirked.

"So go get her so she can tell me I'm ready!" Karli nearly shouted as she gripped at the sheets once more.

"Holy crap, you aren't kidding!" Hideki cried as he jumped up from his chair. On the verge of panic, he stuck his head out the door and peered into the hallway. Catching sight of the doctor, he shouted, "Hey! Doc!"

"Don't talk to me like that, kid," Dr. Suoh said calmly as she slid a pen behind her ear. "Do you need something?"

"Yes!" Hideki said and pointed rapidly into the room. "I think she's having the baby now!"

"Calm down," the doctor said and muttered something about first time fathers always being a pain. "There's no way she's ready." As if to prove her point, she strode into the room and lifted the blanket that covered Karli's legs. She stared for a second with wide eyes before saying, "Oh wow, you _are _ready." She stood and brushed off her blue hospital scrubs. "All right, I'm going to go get the nurse. You two get ready. I'll be back in a minute."

"This is actually happening," Hideki said in disbelief as Karli pulled herself into a sitting position. He sat on the bed behind her and spread his legs out so she could lay on him.

"This is _finally _happening," she corrected as she lay back so that the back of her head rested on his chest. "I've been ready for this for the past month. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes," Hideki said as the doctor and labor nurse reentered the room, both wearing surgical masks and gloves. He let Karli grasp his hand and said, "Let's do this."

-0-

Less than an hour later, Hideki held a tiny pink bundle in his arms. Karli had wanted to close her eyes for just a minute after the birth, but had ended falling into a deep sleep. Hideki gave the sleeping Karli a smile before turning back to his daughter, Sango. Her cheeks were full and rosy, and her coffee brown hair curled in a halo around her head. She had even opened her deep obsidian eyes a few times to look at her father.

"Hey there," he said as Sango's tiny eyes opened once more. "You have a cousin, you know. You two have the same birthday. That's pretty special, isn't it?" He ran a finger over her cheek and she turned her head toward it, her mouth making a sucking motion. "You're pretty cute, you know," he continued as he lifted her hand, encouraging her to grasp his fingers. "Clearly you take after me."

"That was pretty cute up until that last part."

Surprised, Hideki turned, careful not to shift Sango in his arms, and found his mother leaning against the doorway. "How long have you been standing there?" he asked.

"Long enough," Sakura snickered. She stepped into the room and bent over Hideki, giving her new granddaughter a big smile. "Hi, sweetheart," she greeted. "I can't wait for you to come home. Grandma's so excited to have another little girl in the house!"

Hideki wrinkled his nose. "Grandma doesn't sound right. Neither does grandpa."

"You're right," Sakura agreed as she stood and stretched. "I think I like 'nana' much better." She reached out and ruffled Hideki's hair. "And I think your dad would much prefer 'papa' over grandpa."

"Then that's what you guys will be," Hideki declared. He looked back down at Sango. Her face was bathed in the morning light streaming through the window, and she truly looked angelic to Hideki. "What do _you_ think?" he asked her. Sango responded with a small gurgling noise that made both Hideki and Sakura laugh.

"I think that's a yes!" Sakura giggled. "Look at you; you're a doting father already."

"I am not," Hideki argued, but his smile told a different story. "Where's everyone else?"

"They went home to get some much-needed sleep. And Leiji and Hachi are out cold down the hall. You know, you should really get some sleep too," Sakura said with a smile.

"But mom…"

"What?"

"I…" Hideki glanced sheepishly down at Sango once more. "I don't want to put her down."

Sakura laughed and rested her cheek on the top of her son's head. "You really are a doting father already. It's going to be fun watching her grow up."

Hideki leaned into his mother, something he hadn't done in a very long time, and suddenly felt how truly tired he was. He closed his eyes for a moment, inhaling the sweet scent of cherry blossoms that always seemed to surround her. "Hey, how's Leiji's baby?"

"Haru," Sakura corrected, careful not to move. This was perhaps the last time she would ever have a moment like this with her son. "They named him Haru Uchiha-Hyuuga."

Hideki smirked. "I get it. They combined the three last names – Haruno, Uchiha, and Hyuuga. Clever. Is he all right?"

Closing her eyes, Sakura said, "Not really. Leiji and Hachi, well, they elected to have him removed from life support. Since then, his heart rate and blood pressure have been really concerning Dr. Ootori."

"Can't he do anything?" Hideki asked, unconsciously pulling Sango closer to him.

"No," Sakura said. "Haru is premature, and there's really not much that can be done for babies born as premature as he is." Suddenly, she bolted up as in idea struck her. "Unless…" she paused to think and snapped her fingers together with a smile. "Oh, why didn't I think of this before?"

"Think of what?" Hideki asked, crinkling his eyebrows together.

"Come on!" Sakura urged as she pulled the door to the room open. "Bring Sango too. I need her for this."

"For what?" Hideki demanded as he followed his mother through the halls and into the elevator.

"Double-bedding!" Sakura cried triumphantly and she jabbed the button for the NICU. "I can't believe I just remembered this!"

"What's double-bedding?" Hideki asked cautiously as they walked out of the elevator and down to the room reserved for premature babies. Haru was currently its only occupant.

"It's a technique usually used on premature twins," Sakura explained as they came to a stop by Haru's incubator. "If one twin is very sick, they put the healthy twin in the incubator with the sick one, and the twin suddenly makes a drastic improvement. No one knows exactly why this happens, but it works." She carefully lifted the lid of the incubator and moved Haru slightly over. "Hand me Sango," she instructed.

"But their cousins, not twins," Hideki argued as he carefully passed his daughter into Sakura's waiting arms.

"I know that," Sakura replied as she gingerly laid Sango next to Haru. "But it's still worth a try, right?"

"I guess," Hideki said as Sakura closed the lid. He only had a moment to marvel over how much bigger Sango was than Haru before the numbers on his heart monitor began to rise drastically. "What's happening?" he asked his mom, concerned.

"His heart rate is going up," Sakura explained as she peered at the monitor. "Well, would you look at that?" Sakura smiled. "His heart rate is going right to where it needs to be."

"R-really?" Hideki stammered in disbelief.

"Really." Sakura reached up and patted Hideki's back. "Your little girl just saved your sister's little boy. It looks like things are going to be okay after all."

**Ta-da! That made up for my absence…right? I'd like to give a special shout-out to my faithful reader and editor, LesxMisxLuverx10! She has a really good family fic up as well, and I highly suggest you read it! **

**Once again, I promise I'm not ditching you guys on this story…I just got busy with school and work. But since summer's here, I'll have no excuses! **

**Props to those who get the reference to the doctor's names…**


	9. You Are My Sunshine

**Finals are officially over…time for a summer devoted entirely to fanfiction! **

"_You are my sunshine,_

_My only sunshine."_

_-_Elizabeth Mitchell

After two days, Haru was declared officially out of the woods. He had gained several ounces, had a stable heart rate, and his skin had developed a healthy, pinkish glow. However, Dr. Ootori had explained that he wouldn't be able to leave the hospital for at least another month. Leiji was beginning to grow impatient by the morning of the second day, and had all but begged her mother to let her out of the hospital the day before. Sakura had refused of course, explaining that Dr. Ootori still needed to keep an eye on her stitches from the cesarean.

Impatiently flipping through the channels on the outdated hospital television, Leiji glanced at Hideki, who had joined her in her room a few minutes before. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home?" she asked with a sigh.

Hideki shrugged. "Karli hasn't been released yet. And she's sleeping. I didn't want to bother her, so I thought I'd come in here." Stretching, he stood and began to inch towards the door. "But, if you really don't want me here, I guess I could-."

"No, stay," Leiji urged as she grabbed her brother's wrist. "Why is Karli still here?"

Slowly, Hideki lowered himself back onto the edge of Leiji's hospital bed. "Mom said something about suspicious bleeding."

"Is she all right?" Leiji asked, furrowing her eyebrows in concern.

"Nothing's wrong with her," Hideki explained, rolling his eyes. "Mom's just coming up with excuses to keep Sango in the hospital longer. You know, for Haru."

"I can't believe that actually worked," Leiji mumbled, tracing circles into the plain white bed linen with her finger. "I guess he's really going to be all right now."

Hideki gave his sister a gentle smile and placed his hand over hers. "I – I mean _we_ – were all really scared, you know."

Nodding lightly, Leiji muttered, "Yeah, I know." Smiling, she reached up with her free hand and ruffled Hideki's shaggy hair. "And hey, you're a dad now. Mom told me you wouldn't put Sango down earlier."

Blushing, Hideki shifted his gaze to the door and said, "I just like holding her."

Leiji snickered and looked up as Sakura, followed by Kyo and another apprentice, walked swiftly into the room. Kyo had begun his medical training as Sakura's apprentice a month before, and so far he had shown remarkable promise as a medic. He went to the hospital daily with Sakura and her other, much older apprentice, Harumi, to learn as much as he could. Today the ten-year old sported an oversized lab coat and his own clipboard.

"Kyo, present the patient," Sakura urged, giving Leiji a wink as she spoke.

Kyo cleared his throat and stepped forward. With a look of pure determination on his face, he said, "Leiji Uchiha, status: post-op, admitted two days ago with premature contractions. After failing to stop the contractions, Dr. Ootori preformed an emergency cesarean. Currently the scar tissue is healing nicely and showing no signs of infections."

"And what does that mean?" Sakura asked as a beaming smile broke out on her face.

"She can be released today," Kyo finished, nodding curtly.

"_Finally_," Leiji groaned as she leaned back onto her pillow.

"But," Sakura began, and she could see her daughter's face fall, "Dr. Ootori said you can't be released until you're cleared by psych."

"_Psych_?" Leiji cried, widening her eyes in shock. "As in the psychiatric floor…for the _mental _patients?"

Hideki snickered. "I always knew you were crazy."

"Calm down," Sakura said as she glanced over clipboard. "Dr. Ootori just wants to be sure that you're all right. After all, these past few days have been pretty traumatic."

"I don't need to talk to some stupid psychologist," Leiji spat. "I'm _fine. _I just want to go home."

"Sorry, honey," Sakura said sympathetically, "but it's the doctor's orders. Harumi, go to the nurses' station and have them page someone from psych to come down." She glanced back at her second intern and gave her a smile.

Wordlessly, Harumi nodded and swiftly left the room to follow her sensei's orders.

"As for you," Sakura nodded towards Hideki, "come with me. Karli's awake and you two can take Sango home!"

"But what about Haru?" Hideki asked. He glanced at his sister, who was silently brooding next to him.

"He's all right now," Sakura promised. "And anyway, you can bring Sango by any day to visit." She motioned towards the door and smiled, "Come on, Hideki."

Hideki gave his sister a huge grin as he got up to follow his mother out of the room. "Just don't tell that doctor anything, and he _won't _think you're insane," he advised as the door closed behind him.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Leiji glanced back up at the television, which was showing nothing of interest to her. She was alone for the morning. Hachi had left the night before after bringing her a bag full of "normal" clothes so she wouldn't be forced to wear the paper-thin hospital gowns. He had an entire nursery set to put together before they brought Haru home, and the two had been too caught-up in other things to buy nursery furniture. After all, they thought they had had a couple of more months to prepare.

A knock at the door brought Leiji from her thoughts and she sighed. "Let's get this over this," she called to the doctor she was sure was behind the door. But when the door opened, she was surprised to see her father, carrying something small in black in his hand, step into the room.

"Get what over with?" Sasuke asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Sighing, Leiji said, "Mom said they won't let me leave until I talk to some stupid psychiatric doctor."

"So talk to the doctor," Sasuke replied nonchalantly. "Don't be so stubborn."

"But it's like they think I'm crazy," Leiji pouted as her father took a seat on the edge of her bed. "Hey, what's that?" she asked, pointing to the black thing in her father's hand.

Sasuke shrugged. "I found this when I was going through some stuff. I thought you might want to see it again," he said as he handed his daughter a worn stuffed black cat.

"Jiji!" Leiji cried as she turned the stuffed animal in her hands. "I haven't seen him in years!" She gave her father a knowing look and smirked, "You weren't going through old stuff. You went looking for him."

"Yeah, well," Sasuke muttered, glancing to the side, "I thought you could use him."

Quietly, Leiji twirled her finger around the old cat's ear. The once soft fabric had been worn down to a slightly coarse material from years of petting and love. Her grandmother had given her the cat as a gift when she was three years old when the family had to move to a bigger house to accommodate their growing family. Leiji had been afraid of sleeping in a bedroom so far away from her parent's room, despite the fact that it was right across the hall, so Nana Haruno had brought her the cat to make her feel safe in her own room. It had worked, and the cat, named after her favorite cartoon character, had quickly become her main source of comfort until she turned ten and decided she was too old for stuffed animals.

"Hey, dad," Leiji said slowly as she traced a trail down the cat's back with her finger.

"Hn?" Sasuke hummed, turning to give his daughter his full attention.

"Do you think," she began, setting (the stuffed) cat down in her lap, "that I'll…you know, be good at this mom thing?"

Staring down at his hands, Sasuke said, "You'll be fine."

"Do you really think so?"

"What, are you scared?" Sasuke scoffed, although his tone was playful. "I thought you weren't afraid of anything."

"I'm not," Leiji replied stubbornly. "I'm just new to this whole thing."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked, smirking lightly. "After Hideki, Tai, _and _Kyo you're going to act like you don't know anything?"

"Those are my brothers, not my actual kid," Leiji shot back.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at that, but leaned forward and pulled his daughter into a tight hug. As he rested his cheek on top of her silky, raven-haired head he muttered, "Just go with it. You can't really plan how to raise a child. You just take things as they come."

"Thanks, dad," Leiji whispered as she returned the hug.

Sasuke simply held his daughter, savoring the moment. It had been a long time since she held onto him like that, not since she was a child, and he was surprised to find his shoulder was becoming damp. "Are you…crying?"

"No," Leiji sniffed. "Shut up. My hormones are all jacked up."

Chuckling lightly, Sasuke let Leiji go and gave her a gentle smile. "I'm supposed to walk Hideki and Karli home," he said, glancing back at the door.

"Excuses, excuses," Leiji snickered, picking up the cat once more.

Sasuke gave his daughter a pat on the knee before getting up. "Don't worry. About anything."

"Because you're here to protect me?" Leiji asked, smiling playfully.

"Don't you forget it," Sasuke shot back and left.

Alone once again, Leiji clicked off the television and raised Jiji to her cheek, remembering the feel of the stuffed animal's fur against the sensitive skin. She had nearly forgotten about Jiji in the past few years. It was a wonder Sasuke had remembered it even existed.

The door opened and a thin man in a white lab coat stepped inside. He smiled through his trim brown beard and glanced at his clipboard. "Hyuuga Leiji?"

"What's it to you?" Leiji spat, narrowing her eyes at the doctor.

"My name is Dr. Shinosuke. It's nice to meet you." The doctor's voice was too gentle, too understanding. It was a polished voice, refined from years of working with mentally incompetent patients, and Leiji didn't like it one bit.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Leiji scoffed, "Ask your stupid questions so I can get out of here."

"Huh. Impatient," the doctor mused, marking something on his clipboard, "like your father."

"How do you know about my father?" Leiji asked darkly, narrowing her eyes.

"Everyone knows about your father," Dr. Shinosuke replied. "But while we're on the subject, why don't you tell me about him?"

"I don't have to tell you anything," Leiji retorted, her lip curling up in a small snarl.

"Stubborn," the doctor muttered, jotting down something else on his clipboard. "Tell me, what was your life like growing up as an Uchiha?"

"Why do you care?" Leiji shot back, determined not to let him win.

"Unwilling to disclose personal information," the doctor said, nodding his head slightly as he wrote on his clipboard once more. "Is there anything you'd like to tell me? Anything at all?"

"Fuck off."

"Temperamental," the doctor observed, flipping to a new page on his clipboard as he wrote.

"What are you writing?" Leiji asked suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at the hospital-issued plastic clipboard.

"Observations I make during the session," Dr. Shinosuke explained calmly. "I do this with all of my patients."

"I am _not_ one of your patients," Leiji spat back. "You are just here so I can go home." As an afterthought, she held up her hand and glared at the doctor, "Let me see your clipboard."

"Patients are not permitted to read the doctor's notes," the doctor replied, as though he were used to saying this.

"I already said, I'm not you're patient. Let me see the damn notes."

"These are for my personal records," the doctor tried to explain again. "It's not as if they will be made public."

"Fine," Leiji replied darkly. "Then I'll give you two choices: You can either show me the notes, or get the hell out and let me leave."

"Hmm. Feisty, self-righteous-."

"Stop doing that!" Leiji interrupted, earning a surprised look from the doctor. "This session is _over. _I want you to leave and tell my mother I can go home!"

"All right, Hyuuga-san, I will respect your wishes," the doctor said carefully. "But you must know that my analysis of this session is not good. Normally I would not release a patient with such an attitude, but due to your circumstances, I believe returning to your home may be just what you need."

"Thank you," Leiji said, smiling sweetly at the doctor.

-0-

Hachi stared at the instructions for building the wooden crib set in frustration. He had been on countless death-defying missions, passed the Jounin exams with flying colors, had become one of the most respected shinobi in Konoha, and had even stood up to Uchiha Sasuke, but _this_, these seemingly simple instructions were threatening to end him.

"We're missing a piece, I think," Hachi said finally as he glanced over the top of the directions to his father, who had come to help him put the nursery together.

"We're not missing anything," Neji replied as he looked over the piles of organized chaos strewn throughout the second bedroom of Leiji and Hachi's apartment. He was working on putting together a changing table, and his task was nearly complete while his son was still struggling over the beginnings of the crib.

"Are you sure?" Hachi asked as he began digging through the pieces. "Because I'm quite sure that-."

"Enough with the games, Hachi!" Neji shouted, throwing down the instructions he was holding. "This whole set-up is preposterous! You are wasting your efforts on that half-dead child and spoiled brat of a wife!"

"Get out."

"You should have listened to me from the beginning and stayed away from the Uchiha-."

"Get _out."_

"And you never should have attempted to _conceive _with the girl! You have single-handedly brought nothing but misery down on yourself-."

"_Leave, now!" _Hachi shouted, rising to his feet with his fists clenched at his sides. "If you cannot learn to respect my life decisions, then I don't want you to be a part of it! Get out of my home. _Now!"_

Neji stood, arms slack, staring at his son in shock. They had never gotten along well, not even when Hachi was a child, but not once had Hachi ever raised his voice to him. He had never dared to fully defy his father, and it took Neji a moment to realize that his own son had just thrown him out of his life.

"Fine," Neji growled. "I will leave. Just don't expect me to help you when you come crawling back to the compound." With that, he turned and stormed out of the soon-to-be nursery and slammed the front door with enough force to rattle the dishes in the kitchen cabinets.

"Who said I was ever coming back to the compound?" Hachi spat under his breath as he lowered himself to sit on the floor. He reached for the instructions once more and began to study them. He had a crib to build.

-0-

Adjusting to having a baby in the house proved to be more difficult than Hideki had first thought. He had been young when Tai and Kyo were born, and he didn't remember much about what it was like to take care of them because his parents were always the ones doing the dirty work. And, even after three months, Hideki and Karli were still not used to their nightly awakenings.

The digital clock on Hideki's cluttered nightstand read 2:57 and the glowing lights of the sound-sensitive baby monitor illuminated the room as Sango screeched in the next room.

Wearily, Hideki pulled his pillow over his head and groaned. "It's your turn."

"I went last time," Karli mumbled sleepily. "It's your turn."

"I'm pretty sure you dreamed that," Hideki retorted. "Which means it's your turn."

"No way," Karli replied as she rolled onto her side and closed her eyes. "You go."

"But I'm so tired," Hideki moaned, his voice muffled by the pillow.

Just as Karli was about to open her mouth with another comeback, the bedroom door opened and Sasuke, carrying a small bundle, stepped inside.

"Instead of arguing," Sasuke said as he leaned against the doorframe, holding a bottle over Sango's mouth, "maybe one of you should just get up and feed your kid."

Hideki and Karli both stared at Sasuke, wide-eyed. In their effort to pin their responsibilities on each other, they had both failed to notice that their daughter's crying had stopped.

Sighing, Hideki pulled himself out of bed and pulled his daughter and her bottle from Sasuke's arms. "You're making me look bad, dad."

"Then take care of Sango when she cries," Sasuke replied heartlessly. He gave his glaring son a smirk. "Try not to wake up the whole house next time, either."

-0-

On Haru's ninety-fourth day in the hospital Dr. Ootori announced something the family thought they would never hear.

"He can go home," the doctor said as he removed his stethoscope from the infant's bare chest. "It's nothing short of a miracle, but I believe he is strong enough."

"Really?" Sakura asked, clasping her hands at her chest. She let out a slow sigh of relief. "Oh, I was beginning to think we'd never those words." She put a hand on Leiji's arm and smiled at her daughter. "We'll have to let everyone know!" She turned on her heel and began to hastily scurry out of the NICU to make her phone calls when Hachi held up a hand to stop.

"Sakura," he began quietly, "if you could…"

"Don't worry, Hachi," Sakura said with a gentle smile. "I'll be sure to only talk to Tenten." The entire village had heard about the fight between Hachi and Neji by that point, and the Hyuuga compound was in distress because of it. After all, Haru was a Hyuuga and the elders of the clan were planning to have Haru trained as one…by Neji. To make matters worse, Hachi had held true to his word. He had not spoken a single word to his father since kicking him out of the apartment, and had been sure to give him the cold shoulder while visiting his mother and sister.

"Thank you," Hachi said gratefully.

"It's no problem," Sakura assured him as she turned to leave, "after all, if there's one thing I understand, it's arguing with parents!"

Once Sakura had left the room, Dr. Ootori slid his pen behind his ear and gave the couple he had become most familiar with an honest grin. "Now then, I'll begin writing up the discharge papers. With luck, within the hour you two will finally be taking your son out of this hospital." He gave them a curt nod and followed Sakura's path out the door.

For a moment, Leiji and Hachi hovered over their son's incubator in silence, staring down at the tiny but healthy infant. He curled and uncurled his chubby fists as his red eyes squeezed shut, caught up in a dream. Slowly he raised a hand to his soft, pink lips and stuck his fingers in his mouth, sucking lightly on them.

"Well," Hachi began as he placed an arm around Leiji's shoulders, "he's finally coming home with us."

"Things are really going to be all right now, aren't they?" Leiji whispered.

"Yeah," Hachi said as he rested his cheek on top of her head. "Yeah, I think they are."

**Another shout-out to my awesome editor LesxMisxLuverx10! This took a little longer to write than I intended, but oh well, it's done now! Hope you guys enjoyed this little "filler" chapter…next time, be prepared! Here comes the plot…**


	10. If I Could

**I feel like it's been a while since I updated…sorry about that! I've been out of town. Also, I've started a new ficlet series on Their Fate and Harmony. It's basically a bunch of little side-stories I never had time to write about. It's called Piece by Piece, and you can find it on my profile! Anyway, I hope you're ready for this! Here comes the plot…**

"_If I could,_

_I'd protect you from the sadness in your eyes,_

_Give you courage in a world of compromise._

_Yes, I would._

_If I could."_

_-_Barbara Streisand

"Cookie."

"No."

"Cookie!"

"No, Haru," Leiji sighed, exasperated, as she pulled a knit red cap down over the soon-to-be three-year old's ears. "It's too early for that."

"Cookie," the wide-eyed toddler demanded once again as he struggled to pull the cap off his head. "Cookie!"

"Maybe if you're lucky," Leiji tried to comprise, "Papa will give you one when you have lunch."

It was almost eight in the morning, and Leiji still had to drop Haru off at her father's house before she went to train the ANBU, which she was already late for. Hachi, who was in the kitchen trying to rapidly clean up after breakfast, was also running late.

"Cookie now!" Haru cried as he tried to squirm away from the scarf Leiji was attempting to wrap around his neck. He reached up with his chubby hands and tried to push his mother's hands away.

"No, Haru," Leiji replied, getting frustrated now. "Come here, now. Mommy's running late, we need to get going."

Haru crossed his arms and stuck his lower lip out in a pout as he glared in his mother's direction. His toddler-sized anger was about to boil over, and Leiji could see that. He was getting ready to throw a fit; kicking, screaming, and crying, and she had no time to deal with that. In an attempt to avoid the tantrum, she reached for red mittens that matched the cap, smiled and asked, "Where's Haru's hands?"

But Haru would not be fazed by this. He was far too determined to get that cookie to allow himself to fall for such a simple trick, and Leiji could see that also.

"Haru, if you let me get your coat on, I'll tell Papa to give you a cookie when he watches you today. Okay?" Leiji attempted to comprise. Sasuke would be waiting for them by that point. It was a rare day for him, having to watch both of his grandchildren for the day while everyone else ran off to work.

"No!" Haru yelled, and his voice was rising to nearly a scream. "Cookie _now!"_

Leiji opened her mouth to tell him no once more, to threaten him with a time-out if he didn't listen, but something happened. The white's of Haru's blood-red eyes seemed to flash black for just a split second. Leiji blinked in surprise, simply blinked, and Haru held a cookie in his hand.

"Thanks, mommy," he said happily as crumbs spilled from his mouth.

Leiji only stared, shocked, her mouth parted slightly as she ran over the events that had just occurred in her mind. Haru demanded a cookie; that was all. Leiji was about to refuse him that cookie. She blinked, and he had a cookie. At that moment, she didn't care that he was munching happily on the cookie she had told multiple times he couldn't have when she would normally take it from his hands. She was trying so hard to understand just what had happened.

Hachi opened Haru's bedroom door and poked his head in, giving Leiji a light smirk. "Since when did we decide cookies were a good after-breakfast snack?"

Barely moving, Leiji whispered, "You didn't bring him this?"

"No," Hachi replied, quirking an eyebrow. He stepped into the room and knelt down by his son. He reached for the red scarf and tried to wrap it around Haru's neck as he ate. "You did."

Eyes widened in shock, Leiji turned her head to Hachi. "No. I didn't."

"Yes, you did," Hachi said, giving his wife an incredulous look. "You walked out of the room, into the kitchen, grabbed the cookie, and came back in. I watched you do it."

"Hachi," Leiji said slowly. Her vision, she noticed, was slightly clouded, and a headache was beginning to pound its way into her temples.

Noticing his wife's distraught state, he reached out and touched her arm. "Leiji? What is it?"

Looking down at her hands, Leiji noticed a few cookie crumbs, a small smear of melted chocolate, and looked back up at Hachi. "I don't remember getting that cookie for him. I told him he couldn't have one…and then I blinked and…and he had one."

Hachi crinkled his eyebrows, trying to piece together what his wife had just said. "What are you trying to say, Leiji?"

Leiji stared down at her hands once more, knowing that what she was about to say would sound ridiculous, if not crazy. "Before he had the cookie," she began cautiously, "I thought, for a second, that, well, his eyes looked different. Like the whites of his eyes looked black. Only for a second."

"So you're saying," Hachi said after a moment, his eyes never leaving Haru, who was pulling off his winter clothes, "that his eyes changed, like ours do when we activate Sharingan or Byakugan? As if he were activating his own kekkei genkai?"

"That's impossible," Leiji nearly stuttered. "How could he have his own kekkei genkai?"

"Kai," Haru tried to repeat as he pulled his blocks from the low shelf by his crib.

"I don't know," Hachi replied, "but perhaps you should speak to Uchiha-san when you drop Haru off. He may have a suggestion as to what to do at about this."

"All right," Leiji agreed as she grabbed a greatly protesting Haru around his waist and pulled him towards her to redress him for the cold. "I just," she blinked a few times, "feel a little sick."

"Do you want to stay home?" Hachi asked, concerned. "I could take him and you can stay here and rest."

Leiji shook her head and tugged Haru's puffy black coat back on. As she zipped it up to his chin she said, "It's just a headache. It will go away."

"If you're sure," Hachi said. He leaned forward to give Leiji a quick kiss. "See you later."

-0-

"Higher, daddy!" Sango giggled. Her coffee-brown curls bounced as Hideki raised her higher in the air. He lay on the living room floor, arms in the air, balancing Sango in his hands as he raised her up and down.

"That's as high as I can reach," Hideki said, a smile tugging at his lips. Karli had already left for the academy and he had a few minutes before he had to leave to meet up with his genin squad. Those few free minutes, of course, belonged to Sango, as they always did those days.

"Throw me!" she cooed as Hideki raised her up once more. Following her demands, he gave her a little bounce, throwing her a few centimeters in the air, and he was rewarded with an outburst of laughter. He let her fall onto his chest and she giggled as she threw her arms around his neck as he sat up.

The front door clicked open and Hideki turned, with Sango still clinging to his neck, and watched Leiji nearly stumble into the house with Haru following close behind.

"Hey, are you okay?" Hideki asked his sister as he stood, prying a protesting Sango off of him.

"I'm fine," Leiji panted, leaning heavily against the doorframe for support.

"You're totally not fine," Hideki shot back as he nudged Haru over to where Sango was standing so he could get a better look at her. He put a hand on Leiji's arm to help her step into the living room and shut the door against the brutal December cold. He had grown several inches taller than his sister over the past few years, and Leiji leaned against him for support. "What's wrong with you?"

Suddenly, all of her weight was on Hideki and he grasped her underneath the arms before she could begin to slouch to the floor. "Aw, man," Hideki groaned as he lifted her up and carried to her to the couch. Once she was safely lying down, he scooped Haru up in his arms, who was repeating "mommy fall" over and over, and threw open the basement door. "Dad!" he called down the stairs as Haru struggled to free himself. "Help!"

Sasuke came bounding up the stairs, running a hand through his hair, tired already from the mountain of paperwork Naruto had given him – work that he was supposed to do but had procrastinated so long on that Sasuke was the only one able to finish it all in time. But all thoughts of work were forgotten when he reached the top of the stairs and saw his daughter lying on the couch, her hand pressed against her forehead.

"What happened?" Sasuke demanded as he crossed the room to examine her.

"I don't know," Hideki replied as he struggled to keep both Haru and Sango away from the scene. "She just came stumbling in and fell on me!" With both the toddlers suddenly occupied with some fascinating toy, Hideki bent over his sister and raised his eyebrows as she slowly opened her eyes. "Hey, are you pregnant again?"

"_No_," Leiji spat with as much force as she could muster.

"Sor-_ry_," Hideki replied sarcastically with a shrug. "It's just that the last time you passed in the living room, you ended up being pregnant."

"Quiet, Hideki," Sasuke muttered, not wanting to think of his daughter going through _that _again. He placed a hand on Leiji's forehead, feeling for any sign of a fever. "Leiji, what happened?"

She opened her mouth, trying to explain, but her words felt like mush in her mouth and a heavy fog had begun to cloud her vision. Her headache had grown to a constant pounding and each breath only increased the pain. "Haru," she managed to choke out, and she fell into darkness.

-0-

Leiji's eyes fluttered open and she found herself staring at a familiar high ceiling. The white ceiling fan above her head turned lazily on its lowest setting and the top of a black headboard was just visible at the top of her vision. She sat up, slowly, surprised to find that the horrendous headache had vanished, as if it had never been there at all. She found she had been lying in her parent's bed, and the clock on her father's nightstand told her she had been there for quite some time. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and paused for a moment, waiting for the headache to return. When it did not, she stood and stretched, sighing with relief as her back popped.

She caught the faint sound of children laughing and went downstairs to investigate. She found Haru and Sango playing happily in the snow in the backyard, with Sasuke keeping an eye on them from a chair on the porch, paperwork piled in his lap. Leiji slid open the glass door leading to the backyard and poked her head out into the harsh cold. "Dad?"

Sasuke glanced up, only mildly surprised. "Are you all right now? Your mom came by to check up on you. She said she couldn't find anything wrong, so she let you rest."

"I'm all right," Leiji assured her father as she took a seat next to him. "I had…a headache."

"That was no ordinary headache," Sasuke remarked casually as he glanced over a paper with Naruto's nearly indecipherable scribbles on it.

"Dad," Leiji said slowly as she watched Haru and Sango fill plastic buckets with snow and attempt to build castles with them, "something happened this morning."

Setting the paper back in his lap, Sasuke turned to face his daughter. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted with a sigh. "When I was getting Haru ready, he kept asking for a cookie, and of course, I was telling him no. But," she paused, wondering if her own father would think her crazy for saying this, "I just blinked and he had a cookie. But he before he had it, he was getting ready to throw a fit, and for just a second before I blinked, the whites of his eyes," she chewed on her lower lip for a second, "they looked like they had turned black."

Sasuke listened to his daughter's story carefully and when she had finished he leaned back in his chair and looked out at the children. "I was afraid of this."

Leiji looked up, surprised. "What?"

"After Haru was born," Sasuke explained, "I went through some old records of the Uchiha history. I had to go way back, but I eventually found what I was looking for."

"And what was that?" Leiji asked cautiously.

"I was looking for information on why Haru's eyes are the way they are. You know that the Sharingan derived from Byakugan?"

"Of course," Leiji replied.

"Sharingan wasn't the only kekkei genkai to branch off from the Byakugon," Sasuke said, and Leiji gave her father a confused look. "There were many others, but the one I was looking for described glowing red eyes. It was never given a name, because the one who wielded it did not live long and didn't pass the ability on, and the description of the ability itself is vague. There's mention of the ability to see through walls, but that's about it."

"And you think that Haru has this ability?" Leiji asked slowly, trying to piece this new bit of her history together.

"Not quite," Sasuke said as he ran a hand through his hair. "The way you described it makes it sound as if he had, well, a mind control ability of sorts."

"Mind control?" Leiji asked, crinkling her eyebrows. "That seems a bit far-fetched, doesn't it?"

Sasuke smirked. "The Nara's can control people's movements with their shadows, the Yamanaka's can transfer their mind into another's and take control of their bodies, and you think _this _is far-fetched?"

"That's a good point," Leiji said with a smirk of her own. She glanced at Haru, who had caught sight of his mother and was toddling towards her, grinning. He placed his hands on her knees and gave her a toothy smile. Returning his smile, Leiji pulled him onto her lap and turned back to Sasuke. "What should we do about it?"

"You need to take him to the elders," Sasuke replied simply.

"No," Leiji said, unconsciously pulling Haru closer to her as she spoke, "there has to be another away."

"What would that be?" Sasuke challenged. "Teaching him to control it? How could you do that when you know nothing about this power he possesses? He doesn't even know about it, Leiji. He's barely three, far too young to understand such a thing."

"What would they do to him?" Leiji asked, wincing a little as Haru began tugging at her hair.

"They would try to get him to activate the ability," Sasuke explained. "And if they deemed it fit, they would seal it."

"Seal it?" Leiji cried, alarmed. She hugged Haru to her chest, who immediately began to pull away, and said, "Sealing Justus are powerful, not to mention painful!"

"I know," Sasuke replied solemnly, remember his own sealed curse mark. "But if it needs to be done, it needs to be done."

Leiji's face fell as she thought this over, her eyes never leaving Haru, who was busying himself with a strand of her raven hair. When he caught sight of his mother's frown he dropped her hair and placed his hands on her cheeks.

"Smile, mommy," he said as he pulled at her cheeks, attempting to force a smile.

Leiji couldn't help but smirk at this as she pulled his hands away from her face and asked, without turning to look at her father, "When should I take him?"

"Today," Sasuke replied. "Now."

"But-," Leiji began, but clamped her mouth shut, realizing it was useless to argue. He was right, after all. The elders needed to know about this, before it got out of control. "Fine," she whispered.

"I'll come with you," Sasuke said, standing.

Giving her father a wry smile, she motioned to Sango, who had been quietly attempting to make an arsenal of snowballs. "You're forgetting someone."

The backdoor slid open and Kyo stepped out onto the porch. The soon-to-be fourteen year old had grown nearly as tall as Leiji, and his training in surgical trauma had been going very well. Sakura had even excitedly announced that he would begin sitting in on surgeries within the next month.

"Kyo," Sasuke said as his son shivered a bit in the cold, "watch Sango for a while. Leiji and I need to take Haru somewhere."

Kyo nodded his understanding and stepped out into the yard, kneeling beside his niece to show her the proper way to roll a snowball.

"Hey," Leiji called, raising a confused eyebrow. Kyo looked up, and she asked, "Why aren't you talking?"

Smirking lightly, Sasuke said, "He's vowed to never speak again."

"Why?" Leiji asked, turning to her brother for an answer.

"Because!" Kyo cried, and his voice cracked so loudly that Sango dropped her snowball and slammed her hands over her ears.

"Oh," Leiji snickered, and she covered her mouth to stifle her laughter. "It won't last forever. Besides, you _have _to talk. How will be a doctor if you don't talk?"

"I'll find a way!" Kyo cracked and his brow wrinkled in frustration.

"Good luck," Leiji laughed as she stood and readjusted Haru's coat. Sasuke simply rolled his eyes at son's struggle and placed a hand on his daughter's back, leading her back through the house and out through the front door.

-0-

When they arrived at the Hokage's tower, Sasuke wasted no time in ordering Naruto to call a meeting of the elders. Despite Naruto's constant questioning, Sasuke refused to tell him what the meeting was about until the elders were all gathered at the long, oval table in the main meeting room of the tower. Once everyone had taken their appropriate seats, Sasuke gently pulled Haru from Leiji's arms and urged her to step forward and present the case.

She stepped forward under the cold, watchful stares of the elders and repeated the events of the morning in her conditioned ANBU leader voice, and when she finished she stood, silently waiting for their response.

"We must see this for ourselves," Yano, an older gentlemen with a bushy gray mustache, declared.

"And just how do you intend on doing that?" Leiji snapped. Her father's hard stare made her instantly snap her mouth shut, and she turned sheepishly back to the elders for their answer.

"The child plays often with Hokage's grandson, does he not?" asked Sen, a hard-faced woman in her seventies.

"He does," Leiji answered. She held her arms out to Haru, who had been resting his head on Sasuke's shoulder. He smiled at his mother and pulled away from Sasuke, leaning into her arms. She adjusted Haru on her hip and turned back to the elders.

"Then we will observe the two playing together," Sen suggested, "and see if the child activates this ability again."

"He has a name," Leiji said harshly, and Sasuke gave her another hard look.

"Yes, well," Yano said, clearing his throat as he tried to hide a chuckle. The father and daughter never seemed to change. "Let us contact Uzumaki Karin and have her bring Kimaru here tomorrow. Sen and I will observe the children playing and we will make our decision then. Uchi-Hyuuga-san," he corrected himself, smiling lightly, "is there anything you noticed that caused Haru to activate this ability?"

"I didn't let him have what he wanted," Leiji said simply. Haru had buried his face in her shoulder, oblivious to the seriousness of the situation. He yawned loudly into her neck and stuck his thumb into his mouth as his heavy eyes began to droop.

"Interesting," Yano said as he rubbed his chin. "It seems he became frustrated and somehow that awakened his ability, much like the Sharingan is awakened through emotional stress." He glanced at the other elders, who nodded their approval, and turned back to Leiji and Sasuke. "It's decided then. Bring the chi-Haru here at noon tomorrow. We will take care of the rest."

Sasuke nodded curtly at the elders and led Leiji, followed by Naruto, out of the meeting room. Hachi leaned against the wall outside the door and he jumped to attention as they exited.

"What happened? What did they say?" he asked, his features etched with concern as he glanced from Leiji to Sasuke to Naruto.

"They want him to play with Kimaru," Leiji explained. She shifted the sleeping Haru in her arms and sighed. "They're going to try to get him to activate whatever it is he has again."

"And then what are they going to do?" Hachi asked suspiciously.

"They will probably end up sealing it," Sasuke answered plainly. He shrugged at Hachi's shocked expression and sighed. "I'm only saying that because it's a possibility, not to scare any of you."

"You're scaring me plenty," Leiji said, her voice shaking a little as she spoke. "This would really hurt him."

Sasuke reached out and put a hand on his daughter's free shoulder, squeezing lightly. "Don't worry about it," he cast a side glance at Hachi, "either of you. That won't help anything. Go home for now, get some rest."

-0-

The next afternoon, Karin stood in her father's office with six-year old Kimaru, who was spinning a few shuriken around his fingers.

"All right, Kimaru," Karin said, her tone mimicking that of a drill sergeant, "you know the mission, right?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Kimaru shouted, saluting his mother, keeping a straight face.

"You two are ridiculous," Leiji muttered, but snickered at her best friend's mothering tactics. Haru was balanced on her hip, and as usual he was curling his fingers into her hair, giggling.

"You really should consider ponytails," Karin said as she laughed at Leiji's pained expression from all of the tugging.

Before Leiji had a chance to retort, the door opened and Yano and Sen entered the room.

"We will take the children now," Sen said with authority. "We will contact the both of you if anything happens. Plan to meet back here at four regardless."

"Wait, we're just supposed to just leave them with you," Leiji asked, concerned, as she set Haru down.

"Yes," Yano said kindly. "Sen and I have raised three children ourselves. There is nothing to worry about; they will be just fine with us."

"Come on, Haru," Kimaru said, holding out his hand to the toddler. Since the two lived across the hall from each other, they played together often, and because of that Haru wasted no time in grasping Kimaru's hand and grinning up at him. "Let's go play in the park," he suggested. "I'll spin you on the merry-go-round, real fast, like you like!"

"Okay!" Haru agreed happily.

"Remember, admiral," Karin said, pointing a finger in Kimaru's face, "do not do what the agent wants. I repeat, do not do what the agent wants!"

"Yes, captain!" Kimaru cried, saluting once more.

"How do you do that?" Leiji asked, rolling her eyes as Yano and Sen led the children out of the room.

"It gets easier as they get older," Karin promised as she slung an arm around Leiji's shoulders. "Now, we've got four hours of worry-free time! What should we do?"

"I haven't seen Tai in a while," Leiji said sheepishly.

Karin rolled her eyes. "Of course you want to see your family," she gave her best friend a grin to show it was all right and added, "Go. I haven't spent much time with daddy lately, anyway."

-0-

"What have you been up to?" Leiji asked her brother as she raised her steaming hot tea to her lips.

"Not much," the seventeen-year old replied, cradling his own tea in his hands. The siblings sat on a bench outside the local tea shop, sipping at tea and watching the cold turn their breath into plumes of white steam.

"That's all I get?" Leiji asked, quirking an eyebrow. She had found Tai walking along the streets with his hands shoved deep in his pockets after finishing up a mission, and she had nearly tackled him to the ground in her excitement to see him. Even though she had been married and living away from home for nearly five years, she was just beginning to feel the separation from her family, and she hated to admit that she really did miss seeing her brothers on a daily basis.

"What do you want to know?" Tai retorted.

"How's Kisa?" Leiji tried with a sly smile.

"Fine," Tai said, giving his sister an odd look. He and Kisa had been officially dating for two years and things had been going well for them. Recently Sakura had even been making a few jokes about hearing wedding bells.

"Tai," Leiji said with a sigh as she reached out and touched her brother's arm, "please talk to me. Because if you don't talk to me, I'm going to start thinking about things I really can't bear to think about right now. And if I start thinking about those things, I might have to cry on your shoulder and demand your comfort. And if I start doing that -."

"So Kisa's been showing me how to get out of the shadow possession jutsu," Tai interrupted before his sister's spiel could go on any longer. Leiji couldn't help but smile at her clever plan to get her brother to talk. It was about time Tai opened up and talked to her.

After about ten minutes, Leiji's cell phone began blaring in her pocket and she pulled it out to look at the screen. "The elders!" she cried as she jumped from her seat, nearly spilling her tea in the process.

"Is Haru okay?" Tai asked, standing as well.

"I don't know," Leiji replied as she downed the last bit of her tea and tossed the cup into the trash. "But I have to go, now."

"I'm coming with you," Tai declared, his eyes never leaving his sister.

"Don't worry about it, okay?" Leiji smiled as she ruffled her brother's short, raven hair. "I'm just glad you actually talked to me for once."

"Yeah, but-."

"How about I call you later and tell you what happened?" Leiji suggested, and when Tai nodded reluctantly she pulled him into a quick, tight hug. "Thank you, Tai."

-0-

"It's an abomination!" Sen spat, her mouth curled in a furious snarl. She paced the floor in front of Naruto's desk, her face red with fury. Her hands made wild motions in the air as she spoke and her gray hair had fallen from her tight bun, leaving loose strands to hang around her face. "This child cannot _live_ with this ability!"

"What are you trying to say?" Hachi growled, his eyes following Sen's every movement as he tightened his arms around Haru. The toddler was gripping the front of his father's shirt, sensing something was wrong. His lips were curled in a tiny pout as he watched Sen as well.

"Calm yourself, Sen," Yano said gently. He turned to Hachi and Leiji and bowed slightly. "I apologize, she is just alarmed. We have agreed that sealing the ability would be the best option here. Of course, we cannot perform such a jutsu without your consent."

Leiji glanced at Hachi, biting her lip. When she had arrived at the tower, things were in minor chaos. Sen had been ranting to Naruto, demanding his permission to seal the jutsu immediately, and Karin had been in the bathroom with Kimaru, who had been vomiting violently – a side effect of the ability, they learned.

"This is completely up to you two," Naruto confirmed, noticing his goddaughter's worried look. He glanced at Sasuke, standing at his side, and nodded as well.

"D-Daddy?" Leiji stammered, looking at her father with desperate eyes.

"I can't decide this for you," Sasuke said calmly.

"Leiji," Hachi began, and she turned her attention to him. "I think we should. It's clear that Haru is far too young to understand this incredible power he has, and it's not as if we could teach him to control it when we know nothing about it ourselves. If we seal it now, we won't have to worry about what accidents may happen next."

Leiji nodded at the truth behind Hachi's words and put a hand on her son's back. "All right. Seal it," she said slowly, "but, please, let's keep this private. I," she paused and exhaled slowly, "I don't want Haru to know about this. When he gets older, I mean. He doesn't have to know."

"I understand, Leiji," Naruto said with a grin. "Quit worrying, we have to keep this whole thing quiet, anyway."

"Why is that?" Hachi asked as Haru struggled to be let down.

"Because if word of this child's ability ever got out," Sen snapped, her voice clipped with fierceness, "he would become the greatest target in every nation."

-0-

The subbasement of the Hokage's tower was damp and dimly lit. The stone walls made Leiji think of the dungeons in the fairy tales her mother used to read to her when she was young. The thought of trolls and evil witches couldn't escape her mind, and she unconsciously shuddered as Kakashi and Tsunade led her and Hachi, who still carried a clinging Haru, down the dank hallway. Sasuke trudged close behind them, his hands shoved deep in his pockets as he glanced over the familiar walls. He had been down in this subbasement only once before with Kakashi, and he certainly wasn't tagging along for old time's sake. His daughter was terrified, and he wasn't going to leave her to deal with this alone.

The group entered a large, open room, lit mostly by flickering torches, and Tsunade instructed Hachi to place Haru in the center. Once he was seated, happily sucking at his fingers and looking curiously around the room, Tsunade and Kakashi nodded at each other and, in unison, bit their thumbs hard enough to draw blood. The floor had already been prepared for the sealing. The only thing left to prepare for the ritual was Haru, and Kakashi and Tsunade quickly got to work making their bloody symbols on Haru's skin.

"What doing?" he asked as he stared at the two adults in confusion.

"It's all right Haru," Leiji promised as she squatted down beside her son. "It's going to be over soon."

Hachi only sighed and cast a side glance at Sasuke. They could both tell how Leiji was truly feeling; her face clearly showed she was choking back tears.

"You'll need to hold him down," Tsunade instructed. "Both of you. He needs to be kept still for this."

Leiji and Hachi both nodded their understanding and took their places sitting by their son. Leiji placed her hands on Haru's ankles, pinning his legs to the floor. She stared at Hachi, her eyebrows knit together with worry, as he held Haru's arms down.

"Whatever you do," Kakashi said as he raised a finger to his masked lips to focus his chakra, "do _not _let him go. One movement from him, and the entire sealing could fail."

"Okay," Leiji said shakily. She looked up, locking eyes with Hachi as Tsunade placed her palm over Haru's eyes.

"Dark," he giggled, sounding a little too nervous for Leiji's liking.

"Once we start, we're not going to stop," Tsunade warned, "so you two better be ready."

"Just do it," Hachi urged. "Please, get this over with. For his sake."

"All right," Tsunade agreed. She glanced up at Kakashi, who nodded his understanding.

In a single flash, the entire room was ablaze with blue, flaring chakra. As the bloody sealing marks began speeding rapidly into Haru's eyes, his mouth fell open into a piercing, echoing scream. His back arched again the pain as his tiny body began convulsing from the power of the jutsu.

The sound of his screaming was too much for Leiji to handle. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think of something –anything other than the agony her son was experiencing at that moment, agony that she was helping to create. From the corner of the room, Sasuke could see his daughter slipping. Her hands began to shake and loosen around her son's ankles, and he could not let his daughter mess up their one shot at this. In one swift motion, he was kneeling behind his daughter, leaning over her slender frame. His hands covered hers and he squeezed his fingers around them, forcing her to keep her grip on Haru's ankles.

It was over as quickly as it had began, and when the room dimmed back down to its normal lighting, the only sound that could be heard was Leiji, sobbing as quietly as she could. From behind her, Sasuke loosened his grip on her hands and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, trying his best to calm her.

Hachi released Haru's arms and sighed heavily. The toddler had fallen into unconsciousness, and Hachi quickly scooped him up into his arms.

"We'll take him to the hospital to recover," Tsunade said gently, placing a perfectly manicured hand on Hachi's shoulder. "The sealing took a lot out of him, as you can imagine." She pursed her lips and looked over to Leiji, who had her face buried in her hands, leaning against her father with quavering shoulders. "It took a lot out of everyone."

"Is there a chance of the seal breaking?" Hachi asked quietly.

"No," Tsunade answered. "The jutsu we used to seal this ability is the strongest one out there. It's virtually unbreakable."

"Good," Hachi said with a sigh of relief.

Kakashi knelt down by Hachi's side and held out his arms. "Let me take him. Tsunade and I will get him to the hospital safely." He cocked his head towards Leiji. "You've got someone else to comfort now."

Obediently, Hachi passed Haru into Kakashi's arms and went over to Leiji, who had rested her head on Sasuke's shoulder with a faraway look in her eyes. Reluctantly, Sasuke allowed Hachi to pull Leiji away from him. She placed her head on Hachi's chest, her hand gripping at his shirt.

"Please let it be over," she whispered as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"It is," Hachi assured her as he ran a hand over her silky hair. "Everything is just fine now."

**Ah~ I am so tired…and SO glad to be done with this chapter. Writing about poor little Haru in pain pains me…but I hope you all enjoyed! Once again, I want to give a special shout-out to LesxMisxLuver10, who edits this, puts up with my brainstorms, and convinces me to change the storyline every once in a while (laugh). Don't forget to review!**


	11. When the Children Cry

**Good news! I've started a manga series based on Their Fate (eventually it'll be Harmony too!) The pages should be up on my deviantart account in less than a month, and links to the account are on my profile!**

"_Little child, dry your crying eyes._

_How can I explain the fear you feel inside?"_

-White Lion

"You're doing it _wrong!_" Sango declared as she tugged the elastic hair tie out of a tangled mess of coffee-brown curls.

"Well _excuse _me, your highness!" Hideki replied with a roll of his eyes. He took the hair tie once more from his six-year old daughter's hand and attempted to pull her hair into a ponytail for about the fifth time.

"Ouch!" Sango cried as he tugged at her curls. "Mommy does this better."

"Mommy has the flu," Hideki countered, his eyebrows furrowing in frustration. He had never expected the simple task of putting his daughter's hair into a ponytail to be so difficult, but he was becoming certain he would have to admit defeat. "She doesn't want you to get it too."

"Mommy shouldn't be sick anymore," Sango pouted as she crossed her arms. Karli had been miserably sick for the past two days, and she had been nearly living in the upstairs bathroom. Luckily, the lack of an extra bathroom did not cause as much of an uproar in the Uchiha household as it would have years ago. Tai had moved out three weeks beforehand to live with his fiancée, Kisa, and their wedding was rapidly approaching. Now, aside from Hideki and his small family, only seventeen-year old Kyo remained in the house, and he was at the hospital most of the time regardless.

"I wish she wasn't," Hideki agreed with a sigh. Finally he managed to twist his daughter's hair into a lopsided ponytail and grinned. "There. It's good enough."

Sango eyed her father warily as she reached for a small mirror sitting on the coffee table. She glanced at her reflection and began tugging the hair tie out once more. "You suck at this."

"I know," Hideki agreed with a groan, "and don't say that word."

"What? 'This'?" Sango asked innocently.

Unable to help himself, Hideki smirked and pulled Sango into a tight hug. "You're too cute, Sango," he said as she grinned back up at her father.

"I know," she informed him. "Now if only you could learn to make a decent ponytail, daddy."

"Where did you learn to talk like that?" Hideki snickered as he pulled his fingers through her tangled hair as a makeshift brush. "I didn't teach you that."

"She got it from Leiji," Sasuke said matter-of-factly as he descended the stairs with a suitcase stuffed to capacity with Naruto's overdue paperwork. "She used to talk just like that at that age."

"Leiji was a smart-a-?"

"Sassy," Sasuke interrupted before a new word could be added to Sango's ever-growing vocabulary. "Leiji was sassy. She still is in case you haven't noticed." He took in the scene of Sango's messy hair and several broken hair ties strewn out on the coffee table and shook his head at his son. "You really are hopeless."

Hideki watched, his pride spiraling downward, as his father plucked one of the hair ties from the coffee table and effortlessly pulled Sango's thick curls into a tight ponytail. He gave his son a playfully superior smirk and placed a hand on top of Sango's head.

"Get your mother to look at Karli today," Sasuke said. "It doesn't seem like she's getting better." Hideki nodded as Sasuke picked up the overflowing suitcase and headed for the front door. Just before the door closed behind him, he called back, "And move out already!"

Grinning down at Sango, Hideki playfully said, "We're not moving anywhere, are we?"

"No way!" Sango agreed with a matching grin. Excitedly she jumped up from the couch and grabbed Hideki by the wrist, tugging with all of her might. "Now come on, daddy! My first day at the academy is finally here and I don't want to be late!"

"Can't you just stay little and cute a while longer?" Hideki half-whined as he rose from his seat. "You're getting big way too fast!"

"How about this," Sango attempted to compromise as she shrugged her brand new backpack on her shoulders, "you can give me a piggyback ride there!"

"You just don't want to walk," Hideki said knowingly. Nevertheless, he crouched down to allow Sango to climb onto his back. "I really am spoiling you."

"Then keep the spoiling coming!" Sango said with a laugh as Hideki rose back to his feet. Suddenly tall, she threw her arms around her daddy's neck and pressed her cheek against his, giggling. "Let's go, daddy!"

-0-

Across town, at Leiji and Hachi's apartment, the morning was going a bit differently. Haru stood outside his parent's closed bedroom door with Hachi at his side, squatting down to meet his son's height. They grinned devilishly at each other as Hachi reached up to grasp the doorknob.

"Ready?" Hachi whispered to his son, giving him a wink.

"Ready," Haru whispered with a nod, a determined look plastered on his face.

Nodding, Hachi twisted the doorknob and let the door swing open as slowly and silently as possible. Once the door was opened just enough for Haru to squeeze through. He motioned with his hands for Haru to commence the plan they had come up the night before while he had tucked him into bed and smirked.

At his father's command, Haru slipped stealthily into the room and, after a split-second to prepare himself, ran up to his parent's bed and dived onto the mattress right next to his sleeping mother. Startled, Leiji bolted upright into a sitting position and, after getting over the initial shock, sent her snickering husband and son equal glares.

"What was that for?" Leiji cried, but her face softened at Haru, grinning next to her, and threw her arms around him. "You're up pretty early, kid."

"No, he's not," Hachi said, a smirk tugging at his lips.

"What are you talking about?" Leiji asked, confused. "My alarm hasn't even gone off yet." To prove her point, she turned and reached for her clock, and let out a shriek at the time. "How could you two let me sleep in so late?" she screeched as she jumped out of bed, grabbed the nearest clothes and raced into the bathroom to get ready.

Once the door had slammed shut, Hachi let out the laughter he had been holding in and bounced on the bed next to his son. "That was awesome," he said as he gave Haru a high five. "You're learning well, grasshopper."

Haru beamed up at his father. "Do you think we should tell her we set the clock forward?"

"Not yet," Hachi said with a smirk. "Let's let her freak out for a little longer." Taking Haru and tossing him over his shoulder, Hachi bounced off the bed and started carrying the laughing child to his room. "Let's get you dressed, kid. Kimaru should be here soon to get you for the academy. Big day. Excited?"

"Sango'll be there, right?" Haru asked, sounding unsure as Hachi set him back on the ground.

"Yeah, she'll be there," Hachi promised as he pulled a t-shirt and jeans out of Haru's dresser and tossed them at him. "You're even in the same class. You really can't do anything without that cousin of yours, can you?"

"Is that bad?" Haru asked, genuinely concerned as he tugged his shirt over his head.

"Nope," Hachi assured his son. "You guys are practically twins; you've done practically everything together."

"She is my favorite cousin," Haru said with a grin.

"She's your only cousin," Hachi reminded him as he ruffled his hair.

Stepping into the room and leaning against the doorway, Leiji sent a glare to Hachi and Haru and held up her cell phone to show them the real time. "That was cruel."

"That was _fun_," Haru corrected his mother.

Leiji turned her gaze to Hachi. "Why are you teaching him these things?"

"It's quality bonding time," Hachi said with a smirk. "He's a natural-born prankster. With a little training and great tutor, and by that I mean me, he could become the greatest prankster since, well, me." He turned and gave his son a beaming smile. "Isn't that right?"

"Right!" Haru agreed with a matching grin. "Dad promised to teach me his ways."

"That's great and all," Leiji said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at them, "but do these little pranks have to be played on me?"

"You're an easy target," Hachi replied simply.

A knock at the door interrupted witty comeback that was about to come out of Leiji's mouth and she turned to glance at the door, then back to Haru. "That's probably Kimaru. Want to go get it?"

"Yeah," Haru said as he bounded out of his room and to the front door. He threw open the door and found himself staring at not Kimaru, but his grandmother Tenten. "Gramma?"

"Hi Haru," Tenten said, a forced smile stretched across her lips. "Did your daddy leave yet?"

Shaking his head, Haru pointed towards his room and asked, "Is something wrong?"

"I hope not, honey," Tenten replied absently as she made her way to the child's room. "Hachi."

"Mother?" Hachi asked, confused. "What are you doing here?" Noting the worried look on her face, he added, "What's wrong?"

Before Tenten had a chance to explain herself, nine-year old Kimaru stepped into the apartment and threw an arm around the shoulders of his little 'brother', a grin that mirrored Naruto's plastered on his face. "Hey man, it's academy time! Let's go!"

But Haru stayed in place, his fist raised to his lips as cast nervous glances between his parents and his grandmother. Something was wrong, that much he could tell, but he needed to know _what _was wrong if he was going to make it to the academy with a real smile on his face.

Leiji picked up Haru's backpack and helped him pull it up over his shoulders. She gave him a reassuring and smile and a light push on the back. "Go, Haru, you don't want to be late. Quit looking so worried."

"But-."

"Haru, go have fun," Hachi added before his son could protest. "Whatever gramma has to say, it's not about you, so don't worry about it. Go have fun."

Still looking unsure, Haru allowed himself to be led out of the apartment by Kimaru, who was rapidly filling Haru in on all of the details from his own first day at the academy. Once the door had shut, Hachi turn to face his mother and asked, "What happened."

"Your father wants to talk to you," Tenten explained, her brow creased with worry.

"What?" Leiji and Hachi asked in unison.

"Father and I have barely spoken in six years, what could he possibly want to speak with me about now?" Hachi said bitterly, eyeing his mother levelly.

"I don't know," Tenten admitted. "He asked me to come get you."

"You'd better go," Leiji said, placing a hand on Hachi's back. "Your genin squad can wait a while longer for you."

"Right," Hachi agreed, but he found himself biting his lip nervously. "I suppose we should go then. Get it over with."

-0-

As soon as Haru stepped through the doors of his classroom at the academy, he was instantly in the vice-like grip of a hug from Sango. Smirking, he pried himself away from his cousin's grip and said, "Do you think we'll get to graduate early? I can't wait to be a ninja!"

"I hope so!" Sango said excitedly. "We're going to be the best ninja ever! We'll do our homework together, and train together, and-."

"Hey, it's the half-breed."

Confused, Sango and Haru both turned to face the speaker, a blond-haired boy with scratched up knees and elbows with two equally scruffy-looking kids standing on either side of him.

"Half-breed?" Haru asked slowly. "What are you talking about?"

"You," the boy replied, jabbing a finger in Haru's face. "_You're _the half-breed."

"Hey, you can't talk to him like that!" Sango cried as she stepped up to her cousin's defense. Bravely, she placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward until she was almost touching noses with the boy. "You don't even know him!"

"I know that my dad says he's an abomination," the boy retorted, unfazed. "He said the Hyuuga's and the Uchiha's weren't meant to breed with each other." He held his chin up and stared down at Haru, a scowl growing on his face. "And I can tell why. What's with those creepy red eyes?"

"I can't help it," Haru said slowly, his voice beginning to waver. "They're my eyes."

"Yeah!" Sango agreed. She slung an arm through Haru's and started to drag him away from the scene. "C'mon Haru, we don't have to talk to these stupid boys anymore."

"Stop it, Sango," Haru said as he pulled his arm free. "I don't need a girl sticking up for me!" With his Uchiha blood slowly but surely beginning to boil over, he turned back to the boys and crossed his arms. "Just because my mom's an Uchiha and my dad's a Hyuuga doesn't mean I shouldn't exist. They had me 'cause they wanted me."

"That's not what my mom said," the boy on the left said, a devilish smirk tugging at his lips. "My mom went to the academy with yours, and she said your mom _never_ wanted to have a kid, _ever. _You were an accident. They only kept you because they had to."

"That's a lie!" Haru spat back furiously. He turned to look to Sango for help on this, for some kind of confirmation, but she only gave him a hard glare, clearly insulted.

"Believe what you want," the first boy said nonchalantly. "You're still a half-breed, and we still know the truth."

Before Haru could say anything back, the sensei stepped into the room and told everyone to quickly find their seats. Out of habit, he went to sit next to Sango, as he always did when they were together, but she shook her head rapidly at him when he tried to sit, her lips set in a stern line. Shocked, and under pressure to find a seat, he found himself sitting in the back corner of the room next to some kid who kept mumbling to himself. His lower lip trembled lightly, but he would never allow himself to cry in this place. It was going to be a long day.

-0-

When Hachi stepped into his father's office, the feeling of dread that had been weighing down on his shoulders since he stepped onto the compound worsened. There, at his desk, head bent over some paperwork, was the man he had barely said a word to for six years. When he looked up, Hachi saw that he had not changed much over the years, even the stern, hard look on his face was still the same.

"I'm not going to mince words with you, Hachi," Neji said calmly as he arranged his papers into a neat stack. "It has been decided that your son will be trained as a Hyuuga. Bring him here after the academy lets out today to begin the training."

"No," Hachi said, giving his father an incredulous look.

"I did not say that you had a choice," Neji said darkly, his hard gaze never leaving his son's face.

"No, father, I am not going to allow my son to be subjected to such a rigorous training regimen," Hachi said, his arms crossed over his chest as he gave his father a matching stare. "He will do his training with me and Uchiha-san if necessary, but never with you. And I'm not going to fight with you about this," he added, his voice growing stronger, "because that's all I've ever done up until I actually left this godforsaken hell you call a clan. I fought to keep my hair short, I fought to keep Sumomo's training lighter than my own, and damn it, I fought to marry Leiji! I'm not going to fight anymore. You are not to go near my son. This discussion is over." Defiantly, Hachi turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, slamming the door with enough force to chip the frame, and leaving Neji to stare wordlessly after him, his eyes wide with shock.

As Hachi made his angrily towards the gates of the compound, he came across a few kunai scattered on the ground, surely belonging to Sumomo, who had become a brilliant weapon's mistress just like Tenten. He paused for a moment to examine them, and as he turned them carefully in his hands, he realized they had been hand crafted. They were much more slender than average kunai, which, in theory, would allow them to be thrown a greater distance and move with greater precision. These kunai were ingenious, and to test his theory, Hachi tossed the weapon at a target hanging in a nearby tree. It hit the mark perfectly.

Hachi had just picked up a few more to look them over when Sumomo bounded up to him, a few flat, clearly handmade, shuriken balanced in her palms. "They're great, aren't they?" Sumomo said with a proud grin. "It took forever to get the size right, but once I finished with them, I started crafting these babies." She held up the shuriken for her brother to admire and he took it with a smirk.

"How long have you been working on these?" he asked as he held the thin shuriken up to the light.

"About a year," Sumomo answered. She tossed one of the shuriken effortlessly into the tree and grinned proudly when several branches, all perfectly sliced, came crashing to the ground.

"Why aren't these available for use yet?" Hachi asked. "They're brilliant."

"Dad doesn't want them to be produced outside the clan," she admitted, kicking her foot lightly in the dirt. "He thinks they should stay our secret."

"Sumomo, why do you stay here?" Hachi asked with a sigh. "You could do great things if you left."

"Not everyone can leave the clan like you," Sumomo said somewhat bitterly, but she quickly replaced her growing scowl with a playful smile. "Besides, between you and me, I think I'm dad's favorite."

Hachi rolled his eyes. "You could leave, you know."

"And go where?" Sumomo challenged as she bent to pick up the glittering weapons from the grass.

"Come stay with us," Hachi invited. "At least for a while."

"And what, sleep on the couch?" Sumomo asked. "In case you haven't noticed, there's just enough room in that apartment for three, not four."

"We could move," Hachi said quickly. "It wouldn't take too long to find a house and-."

"And what? Move Leiji away from her best friend? Don't you know they _like _living across the hall from each other?" Sumomo retorted. "It's not going to work, Hachi. I'm fine staying here."

"But you're not fine!" Hachi nearly shouted, and Sumomo took a step back in surprise. "You've been living in this oppressive clan, bending to father's every will for twenty-three years, and it needs to stop! You can't even patent these brilliant weapons you worked so hard to make outside the clan because father doesn't want it! If you were to leave the clan, you could do at least that!" He paused and shook his head rapidly. "But you can never _really _leave this fucking place. I thought I had made it out, but today I learned that wasn't true. Father wants Haru now."

"Haru?" Sumomo said, her eyebrows crinkling in concern. "What does he want with Haru? They've never even met."

"He wants to train him," Hachi spat, "as a Hyuuga."

"Oh, Hachi," Sumomo sighed, "I'm sure that didn't end well." She bit her lip and reached up, placing a hand on her brother's arm. "Thank you, by the way. I know you fought with dad all the time about how hard he trained me. He went lighter on me because of you. I wouldn't wish that kind of training on anyone, especially Haru."

"I wasn't going to just stand idly by and watch my little sister suffer through that," Hachi admitted. "I only wish I could have done more."

"You're doing more for Haru, right now," Sumomo informed him. "You're protecting him, and that's all you need to be thinking about right now."

"I'm not going to let father take him," Hachi said confidently. "Haru is not going to go through what we did."

"He won't have to," Sumomo reassured him. "I'm your side on this, and so is mom. We'll help keep dad out of Haru's business."

Hachi gave his sister a grin and pulled her into a headlock, something he used to do on a daily basis when they were younger. "Thanks, sis. You're my favorite sister."

"I'm your only sister!" she laughed as she struggled to pull herself free.

-0-

When the time for recess came at the academy, Haru was dragging his feet down the halls with slumped shoulders as the rest of the children ran outside laughing – Sango included. He had made her pretty mad when he told her he didn't need a girl to help him, and he wanted to tell her he was sorry. He needed her to be on his side. The name-calling was escalating at an extremely fast rate. All throughout the class, the children would pretend to cough into their hands and whisper 'half-breed' while sending him a glare.

When the class made it outside to the playground, he walked up to Sango, who was standing with a small group getting ready to play kickball. Sango turned to him when she saw him coming, looking slightly unsure, and opened her mouth to say something, but one of the other kids in the group stepped in front of her.

"Go away," she demanded. "We don't want a half-breed playing with us!" She turned to look to the rest of the group for confirmation and asked, "Right guys?"

"Right!" everyone agreed. Sango, however, stared at the ground, kicking at the dirt lightly with her feet.

"Sango?" Haru asked slowly, staring at his cousin with hurt, pleading eyes.

Sango bit her lower lip, looking at her new friends then turning back to Haru. But before she could get a word out, one of the other girls in the group slung an arm around Sango's shoulders and started to pull her away.

"Let's go play over there," the girl said. "This place reeks of half-breed."

As Haru stood there, shocked and unsure of what to do, Kimaru leaned against the fence of the playground and sighed. His class had been let out early for the day, and he had seen the whole thing. Judging by the look on Haru's face, he could tell that wasn't the first time he had been called 'half-breed' that day. He debated for a bit on going up and defending Haru, or at least talking to him, but decided it was best to let Haru stick up for himself. In the end, he decided to let Leiji know what was happening, so she could at least be aware of the situation.

He found her at the ANBU headquarters, sitting at her desk with a few papers scattered about. She glanced up as he stepped into her office and walked up to her desk.

"Is something wrong, Kimaru?" Leiji asked, concerned.

"Kind of," Kimaru admitted. "Aunt Leiji, I heard a lot of the kids in Haru's class calling him a 'half-breed'."

Leiji stared for a moment and set the papers in her hands down slowly. "Oh."

"What does that even mean?" Kimaru asked.

"Well," Leiji began as she scratched at the back of her head, "I think they mean that he's half Uchiha and half Hyuuga. But I don't understand why they'd be calling him that."

"They were making fun of him," Kimaru informed her. "Somehow they even got Sango to go along with it."

"What?" Leiji cried, alarmed. "Sango too? How did she get dragged into it?"

"I don't know," Kimaru admitted with a shrug. "I just thought you'd want to know. Haru looked pretty sad."

Sighing, Leiji pulled her fingers through her hair and looked back down at her work. "All right. Thanks, Kimaru, that's…good to know."

"Are you okay, Aunt Leiji?" Kimaru asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Yeah, Kimaru, I'm okay," Leiji assured him. "Just keep an eye on Haru, okay? But be discrete about it."

"What does 'discrete' mean?" Kimaru questioned.

"It means don't let him catch you."

"Like a mission?"

"Exactly," Leiji said with a nod. "It's a mission."

-0-

"Half-breed?" Hachi asked, a frown tugging at his lips. "The kids are really getting creative with the nicknames these days, huh?"

"It's nothing to joke about," Leiji said as her fingers drummed on the kitchen table. "Kimaru said he looked pretty upset."

"So what should we do about it?" Hachi asked, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "It's not like the kid's ever been bullied before."

"I know that," Leiji groaned as she buried her face in her hands. "I guess we should just tell him to ignore it. If he doesn't let it bother him, they'll stop eventually."

"Right, because that _always _works," Hachi said, rolling his eyes.

"Well what else are we supposed to do?" Leiji shot back. "Have _you _ever been called names like that?"

"No," Hachi replied with a shrug. "And I know you've dealt with your fair share of sexism and teasing boys, but it's definitely not the same as what Haru's going through."

"So we just tell him to ignore it," Leiji decided and looked to Hachi for confirmation.

"And if it gets worse?" Hachi asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"We'll deal with it only if it happens," Leiji said matter-of-factly, and before Hachi could add anything else, the front door opened and Haru stepped inside with his head bent, staring down at his feet.

"Hey! How'd the first day go?" Hachi asked cheerfully.

"Fine," Haru deadpanned and turned to make his way to his room.

"Hold up," Leiji said and Haru froze in his tracks. "You and I both know that's not true."

Haru turned slowly to face his parents, his lower lip trembling slightly as he forced back tears. "They called me a half-breed," he choked out.

In an instant, Leiji and Hachi were kneeling by their son's side, Leiji with her arm around his shoulders and Hachi with a hand resting on Haru's arm.

"You are _not _a half-breed," Leiji said sternly. "You're a person, not a dog."

"They said you didn't want me," Haru said, staring his mother in the eyes, watching them widen at his words.

"Who said that, Haru?" Hachi demanded, giving Leiji a moment to get over her initial shock.

Haru shrugged. "Some boy. He said his mom was in the same academy class as mom." He turned back to look at his mother with saddened eyes. "Is that true? Did you really not want me?"

"Of course that's not true!" Leiji cried. "I wanted you, Haru."

"He said you didn't ever want to have a baby," Haru challenged.

"Haru," Leiji said slowly, "when I said that, I was nine years old and fed up my brothers. That must have been right around the time mom got pregnant with Kyo…"

"Just because someone says something once, doesn't mean they mean it for their entire life," Hachi said. "We both wanted you. Don't believe what those kids are saying for a second."

"I don't want to go back there tomorrow," Haru said with a sniff. "Sango's mad at me 'cause I told her I didn't want a girl's help and I don't want to keep getting called a half-breed."

"You have to go back," Hachi said and placed a hand on top of Haru's head.

"That's right," Leiji agreed. "Go back and apologize to Sango, and if anyone tries to call you that, just ignore them. They're only saying that because they know it bothers you, but if you make them think it doesn't bother you, they'll stop."

"Promise?" Haru asked hopefully.

"Promise," Leiji assured him as her phone began buzzing loudly in her pocket. Groaning, she pulled it out and rolled her eyes. "ANBU," she explained as she stood and headed for the door. "I'll be back in an hour or two."

As soon as the door shut, Hachi turned to Haru with a grin. "That 'ignore it and will go away' stuff doesn't work," he said. "You know what you really have to do?"

"What?" Haru asked, interested.

"If it really starts to bother you, slug 'em," Hachi said with a grin as he made a swinging motion with his fist. "Show those kids who's boss."

"That will work?" Haru asked in amazement.

"One hundred percent," Hachi promised and stood. "Now, you want to set up some traps around the apartment for your mom to discover?"

-0-

"And then he said 'stop it Sango! I don't need a girl sticking up for me'!" Sango mimicked as she crossed her arms angrily over her chest, her lower lip sticking out in a pout. She sat cross-legged on her bed with her father, who was supposed to be putting her to sleep, and glared angrily up at him.

"Boys want to stick up for themselves, Sango," Hideki tried to explain. "If he lets a girl stick up for him, those boys will only tease him more."

"That's not _fair," _Sango fumed. "He's my cousin and I want to help him!"

"So help him by playing with him on the playground, or studying together or doing all that other stuff you guys said you were going to do," Hideki suggested. "Just let him deal with those stupid kids."

"But they made him sad!" Sango protested.

"So let Haru deal with it," Hideki said again as he pulled back the sheets on Sango's bed. "It's not your problem, but you can stay by his side and keeping his friend. Now get in bed, you should be asleep by now."

"Do I have to say I'm sorry?" Sango asked skeptically as she crawled into bed.

"Yes," Hideki replied simply. "It probably hurt Haru's feelings pretty bad when you didn't play with him."

"Fine, I'll say I'm sorry," Sango grumbled as she tugged the blanket up to her ears.

"You have to mean it to," Hideki reminded her with a smirk.

"You're making this really hard on me!" Sango whined.

"Just do it, all right?" Hideki said as he leaned over and placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead.

"Fine," Sango agreed with a sigh. "Good night, daddy."

"Good night, Sango," Hideki said as he flipped her lights off and pulled her door shut. He turned and headed down the stairs to the living room where Karli sat on the couch, a thin blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "Feeling any better?" he asked as he took a seat next to her.

"A little," Karli said as she shifted to lay her head on Hideki's shoulder.

"Did my mom tell you what's been wrong with you?" Hideki pressed as he moved his arm to rest around her shoulders.

"Yes," Karli said slowly and shifted uncomfortably.

"Well what's wrong?" Hideki tried again, looking down at Karli with a confused look.

"Um, I'm not sick," Karli mumbled. "I'm pregnant."

**Ahh it feels good to be done with this chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed! The next one will be a bit of a comic relief chapter, so I'm looking forward to getting it written! Special thanks, once again, goes to my editor and faithful reader LesxMisxLuverx10, who also has some great stories up that I highly suggest you read!**

**Don't forget to review!**


	12. Everybody

**Sorry for the wait!**

"_Everybody, everybody wants to love,_

_Everybody, everybody wants to be loved."_

-Ingrid Michaelson

Haru sat in his usual spot in the back of the academy classroom, his chin resting in his hand as he stared past the sensei and out the window. School had started over a month ago and the bullying had only gotten worse. He had tried his best to ignore the teasing kids, as his mother had told him, but he was really starting to get fed up with them. He hated to admit it, but he was beginning to grow frustrated with Sango as well. She tried to step in constantly and stop the bullies, regardless of what he had told her about wanting to handle it on his own.

The boy sitting in front of him, one of the bigger kids in the class, raised his arms in a stretch, bringing his hands down behind his head and dropping a folded piece of notebook paper onto Haru's desk. Haru watched it bounce twice before coming to a stop and debated on opening it or not. Whatever was inside that piece of paper couldn't possibly be good.

Sighing, he took the paper and carefully unfolded it. The message that stared back at him did not faze him, and he simply set it down on his desk to wait for an opportunity to throw it away, like he did with all of the other notes.

When the sensei had stopped his lecture and dismissed the class for lunch and recess, Sango bounded up to Haru's desk like usual. She paused when she saw the note that Haru wasn't even bothering to hide and swiped it from his desk before he had a chance to react.

"Get out, half-breed," she read aloud and crinkled her eyebrows. She crumpled the note and gave Haru a hard stare. "Who gave you this one?"

"It doesn't matter," Haru said tiredly as he took the paper ball from his cousin's hands and dropped it into the trash.

"It does matter," Sango argued as she trailed behind her cousin though the hallways. He said nothing as he stepped out into the sunny schoolyard and made his way to the wooden bench where he had been spending all of his recesses lately. "At least play today," Sango urged as she grabbed his wrist to keep him from sitting.

"No, Sango, they don't let me," Haru spat as he jerked his wrist out of her grasp and sent the other kids a glare.

"Well _I _let you," Sango said. Before Haru could react, she stormed over to the group of kids and ripped a rubber ball from the biggest one's hands. Wordlessly, she stormed back over to Haru and shoved the ball in his face. "Take it."

"Hey!" the kid who had been holding the ball called out. "You touch that ball, half-breed, and you're dead!"

Haru sighed and leaned back against the wall of the academy. "Take it back to them, Sango. It's not worth it."

"No!" Sango said, stamping her foot in frustration. "You can play just like everyone else!"

Haru glanced over at the group of kids staring him down, daring him to take the ball from Sango's hands, and suddenly he realized that those stupid kids had been controlling his every move since school had started, and he wouldn't take it anymore. Narrowing his eyes, making sure all eyes were on him, Haru slowly stood and took the ball from Sango's hands. She grinned proudly at her cousin and took a few steps back, holding out her arms for a game of catch.

"That's it, half-breed, you asked for it!" the kid called and stormed his way across the playground with his gang of fellow bullies following close behind. He raised an arm as he approached Haru, his big hand clenching into a fist.

With his father's words echoing in his ears, Haru watched as the boy approached. When he got within an arm's length, he dropped the ball and, before he even realized what he was doing, swung his fist through the air, catching the boy's left cheek hard enough to send him sprawling to the ground.

-0-

"Oh, this is so exciting!" Sakura grinned as she squirted lukewarm blue gel over Karli's exposed stomach. The brunette cringed a little at the contact. "No need to be so jumpy," Sakura said with a laugh as she began spreading the gel with the ultrasound probe. "You've done this once and you can do it again."

"We weren't going to do it again," Hideki muttered under his breath.

"A-at least not for another few years," Karli added.

Sakura rolled her eyes at this and chuckled lightly. "Surprises are always the best. Just look at Sango."

A small smile tugged at the corners of Hideki's mouth at the mention of his daughter. Saying she had him wrapped around her little finger would be an understatement, and somehow having another child seemed like a kind of betrayal towards her.

"She'll be excited," Karli said with a tender smile.

"She should be," Sakura agreed. Furrowing her brows, she leaned forward to get a better look at the screen and pulled back quickly. "And you two should be too. I certainly hope you're ready for double trouble."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hideki, dense as usual, asked as Karli's eyes widened in realization.

"I mean, you're having twins!" Sakura cried. She removed the probe from Karli's stomach, which was only just beginning to grow, and handed her a towel to wipe her belly with. "Two healthy looking babies are in there right now!"

"_Two_?" Hideki nearly shouted, making Karli cringe. She couldn't help but think '_here we go again_' as the detached look that had plagued Hideki's face throughout the near entirety of her first pregnancy began taking over his handsome features once more.

"Yes, two," Sakura confirmed as she flipped the ultrasound machine off. "You two better start house hunting, and soon!"

"What do you mean? They could take Tai's old room!" Hideki argued.

"Oh, Hideki, honey," Sakura said, holding back a laugh, "your father and I agreed to let you stay in the house until you two got on your feet. We were only expecting you to stay for a year or two…we never imagined six! We are ready for some peace and quiet, no offence to Sango or those twins. I mean this in the nicest way possible when I say: get out."

"I agree," Karli said, turning to Hideki. "We've been there long enough. I think it'd be good for Sango to be living with just us…and the twins."

"But-," Hideki began.

"No buts," Sakura smirked triumphantly. "The women have spoken."

Before he could get another word in, Sakura's phone buzzed loudly in her lab coat pocket and she quickly pulled it out to glance at the message. "I have a meeting to get to," she said, a sly smirk pulling on her lips. She stood and pushed the machine back in the corner of the room. "I suggest you two start looking for a house while Sango is still at school. House-hunting with children can be _quite _the hassle."

-0-

Leaning against the wall next to their usual on-call room, Sasuke watched the nurses and doctors shuffle past, always busy, always lost in their own thoughts. This was the norm for Sasuke. He and Sakura usually had "meetings" in one of the hospital's many on-call rooms when she was stuck working long hours. It was a little much-needed stress relief for the both of them.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he pulled it out to glance at the message from Sakura, saying she was on her way. Smirking lightly, he pushed the door open so he could 'prepare' for her arrival and froze at the sight before him.

Kyo stood, facing the wall, with some woman's legs wrapped his waist. He was shirtless, his hands pressing into the woman's bare hips. Her shirt lay on the floor beside his, and her breasts were only just barely covered by a lacy purple bra, the straps falling off her shoulders. They both stared in wide-eyed shock, and Sasuke immediately recognized the girl as one of the nurses.

"Dad, please!" Kyo cried once he recovered from the initial shock.

"Hn," was all Sasuke could manage to get out as he took a step back and let the door fall closed with a bang. He nearly jumped as a hand touched his back and he whirled around, coming face to face with Sakura.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked, concerned. "You look like you've just seen a ghost or something!"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted and put a hand on her back in an attempt to push her away from the door. "Let's go to another on-call room."

"But this one's the quietest," Sakura argued as she reached for the door handle.

"We're not the only ones who figured that out," Sasuke muttered under his breath as Sakura pulled open the door before he could stop her.

Letting out a huge gasp, Sakura clapped her hands over her mouth and stepped away from the door. "K-Kyo?"

Groaning, the youngest Uchiha pulled his scrubs shirt back over his head and sent a glare in his parents' direction. The nurse blushed madly from behind him and pulled her own shirt on. Staring down at the ground, she walked briskly past Sasuke and Sakura, muttering about a patient she needed to check up on.

"See what you did?" Kyo spat as he watched her go.

"Kyo," Sakura began slowly, "I didn't know you had a girlfriend."

"I don't," Kyo replied, giving his mother an incredulous look. Sasuke ran a hand through his hair and groaned. He could see where _this _was going.

"Then who was she?" Sakura asked, pointing a finger in the direction the girl had run off in.

"_She _was my ticket to screwing every nurse in this hospital, and you ruined it!" Kyo cried. He pulled his lab coat off of the bunk bed shoved into the corner of the room and pulled it on as he stormed past his parents. "Now I have to go win her back!" he groaned in frustration as he disappeared down the halls.

Sakura blinked, stunned into silence and turned to Sasuke, who shrugged. "Don't look at me, I didn't teach him that."

"My baby," Sakura began, blinking back tears. "He's having…s_ex._ With the nurses!"

"Yeah," Sasuke agreed awkwardly, unsure of what to say her. He couldn't say that he was necessarily thrilled about discovering his youngest son about to get it on with some nurse in an on-call room, but he was certainly not upset like Sakura. Seventeen year old boys just _do _that sort of thing…don't they? Hideki certainly did, and Sakura wasn't upset over it. And he was certain that Tai and Kisa wasted no time getting together, especially after they got engaged, and Sakura had not been fazed by that. So what was the big deal now? Unsure of what else to do, Sasuke placed an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug.

"He's all grown up," Sakura whimpered, resting her head on his shoulder. "He doesn't need me anymore. Leiji's married, Hideki's about to move out, Tai's getting married next week, and Kyo's having sex! Nobody needs me anymore!"

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Sasuke gave her shoulder a squeeze and assured her, "Of course they need you. Kyo's still learning, isn't he?"

"Yes," Sakura said with a sniff. "But he could just get that information from those slutty nurses! Did you hear what he said? He said he had…been with every nurse in the hospital! There are at least forty nurses here!" She broke her spiel with a small sniff and added, "What happened to my sweet, shy, quiet little Kyo?"

"He's growing up, Sakura," Sasuke tried. Blinking, Sasuke pulled back from the hug and looked down at her. "Did you say Hideki's moving out?"

"Yes," Sakura said as she scrubbed at her eyes with the palm of her hand. "They're having twins, Sasuke. I told him they couldn't stay at the house anymore. Maybe I should tell them they can have Tai's room after all…"

"No!" Sasuke said a little too eagerly. "We've wanted them out for years."

"But with the twins-."

"Sakura, let them go," Sasuke urged. The thought of a quiet, peaceful house after twenty-seven years sounded almost too good to be true and he was not about to miss that chance. Now if he could just think of a way to get Kyo to move out…

His thoughts were interrupted by his phone, and he pulled it out of his pocket and glanced at the screen, raising a brow.

"Who is it?" Sakura asked.

"The academy," Sasuke said with a shrug. "I better see what they want." He gave Sakura a questioning look before he turned to walk away. "Are you going to be okay?"

"I suppose," Sakura said with a sigh. "Do you think something's wrong with one of the kids?"

"I don't know," Sasuke said simply. "But I'd better find out."

-0-

Haru sat on a bench in the nurse's office of the academy, looking down at his feet as he held an icepack to his throbbing hand. Punching that boy probably wasn't the best decision he had ever made, but a small part of him was still swelling with pride for standing up for himself. His sensei, however, was not so pleased. He paced in front of Haru, a deep frown set on his lips.

"Your parents are unreachable right now," he spat, "but your grandfather is on his way to come get you."

"Why does he have to come get me?" Haru asked timidly, shrinking back into the seat. He could just barely see the boy he punched – Kento – through the window on the door of the exam room. The nurse was taking a look at his swollen cheek and black eye, and was offering him an ice pack.

"Because, Haru," the sensei said bitterly, "you're suspended. You know getting into fights isn't tolerated here." He paused his pacing to glance down at his student, an eyebrow quirked. "You know, I never expected this from you. From that cousin of yours, maybe, but not you."

"They kept calling me a half-breed," Haru mumbled as Sasuke stepped into the office.

"Uchiha-san," the sensei greeted with a slight bow. "Sorry to call you out here, but your daughter is on an out-of-village mission with the ANBU and her husband is not answering. You're their emergency contact."

"Hn," Sasuke hummed and glanced down at Haru, who immediately looked back down at the ground. "What happened?"

"He got into a fight on the playground," the sensei explained and jerked a thumb towards the examination room. "Slugged the kid pretty hard too."

"Haru," Sasuke said sharply, and Haru jerked upright at the tone of his voice, "you got into a _fight?_"

"I was pretty surprised too," the sensei said simply. "Nevertheless, we're pretty strict about fights around here. He's been suspended for the rest of the week. You can go ahead and take him home. We've left a message on your son-in-law's phone telling him you've come to get him, so he knows where Haru will be."

"All right," Sasuke said with a sigh before turning to Haru. "Come on."

"Am I in trouble?" Haru asked timidly as he stood.

"Let's go," Sasuke replied curtly. Haru didn't bother asking anymore questions and scurried after Sasuke, who walked silently ahead. Looking down at his feet, he kept pace with his grandfather and squeezed the icepack tighter against his hand, cringing slightly at the pain.

"Well," Sasuke started, glancing down at Haru after a few moments of silence, "do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"They wouldn't stop calling me a half-breed," Haru explained, his voice so strong it surprised even him.

"That's no excuse," Sasuke informed him as he pulled open the front door of the house and ushered him inside. "Sit there," he instructed, pointing to the couch.

"But they've been doing it since school started!" Haru protested, pouting as he took a seat at the edge of the couch. "Mom told me to ignore them and I did but it wasn't getting better so I did what dad told me to do!"

"Your father told you to get into a fight?" Sasuke growled, narrowing his eyes.

"He told me to 'slug 'em'," Haru corrected, leaning back into the couch and nursing the melted icepack to his hand. "This really hurts," he said, holding his hand up for Sasuke to see.

"He shouldn't have told you that," Sasuke scoffed as he bent down to exam his grandson's hand. He made a mental note to yell –er, _speak _– with Hachi later about his fatherly advice and disappeared for moment to get a bandage for Haru's bruised knuckles. "Punching someone isn't going to solve anything," Sasuke explained as he wrapped the bandage around Haru's hand, "if anything, it's going to make it worse."

Haru bit his lip, cringing a little as the bandage tightened around his hand. "They give me mean notes," he stated. Sasuke glanced up at that, raising a brow. "And they make me sit on a bench at recess."

"So throw away the notes," Sasuke advised, cutting the bandage and taping it securely to Haru's hand. "And get off the bench and make friends. They can't _all _be bullying you."

"The one's that aren't being bullies are too scared of my eyes to get near me," Haru informed him as he drew his hand to his chest. "Sango's the only one who's not, but that's just 'cause she's used to them."

"Because she's family," Sasuke corrected and took a seat next him. "And that's really all that matters. Those stupid kids will come and go, but you're stuck with us." He smirked lightly and added, "And what's wrong with your eyes being a little intimidating? You a_re_ half Uchiha after all."

"You think I'm a half-breed too?" Haru cried, betrayal hidden deep in his eyes.

"No," Sasuke said with a sigh. "You're not a half-breed. You're half Uchiha, and half Hyuuga."

"That's the same thing!" Haru argued and Sasuke couldn't help but roll his eyes. This kid was turning out to be as stubborn and sassy as Leiji.

Before Sasuke could open his mouth to protest, Hachi opened the front the door and walked up to Haru, giving him an odd look. "Dude, you got into a fight?"

"You told me to slug 'em if they didn't stop bullying me!" Haru countered.

"I was _kidding_!"

Inwardly groaning, Sasuke smacked a hand to his forehead and trailed it down his face. "He is a child, Hachi," Sasuke said as calmly as possible. "He's going to believe what you tell him."

Sighing, Hachi said, "After all of the pranks we play and the lies we tell mom, _this _is what you choose to believe?"

"They wouldn't stop," Haru protested again, tears gathering in his eyes. "They won't leave me alone no matter what I do!"

"All right, calm down," Hachi said soothingly as he pulled Haru into a hug. "What do I do?" he asked Sasuke quietly. "Do I schedule a meeting with those kid's parents or something?"

"That might make things worse," Sasuke said simply. "Wait it out for a while. Maybe that punch really did help."

"Dad…" Haru said slowly as he pulled back his father's hug.

"What?" Hachi asked, raising a brow.

"I got suspended."

Groaning, Hachi rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "You get to tell your mom why."

"You're the one who told me to do it in the first place!" Haru argued.

"Let's leave that part out," Hachi smirked, ruffling his son's hair.

-0-

A week later, Tai and Kisa were married. The event had gone smoothly enough, with relatives oohing and ahhing over Sango in her little pink flower girl dress and commenting on how absolutely _adorable _Haru looked as ring bearer with his little tuxedo and matching pink tie. The kids were almost a bigger hit than the bride and groom.

During the reception, all of the Uchiha's, save for Tai of course, gathered in a corner of the banquet hall, watching the Nara and Yamanaka sides of the family dance and laugh out on the floor.

"You know, we're not very fun," Leiji commented, eyeing Sango and Haru, who were grasping each other's hands and dancing to the song bursting over the loudspeakers.

Sakura crossed her arms and sent Sasuke a glare. "Well if your father would dance with me-."

"I don't dance, Sakura," Sasuke reminded her, cutting her off before she could finish.

Before Sakura had a chance to protest, Ino sauntered up to the group, smirking lightly as her champagne sloshed in her glass. "I never thought we'd be related, Forehead," she said, nodding towards Sakura.

"You can say that again," Sakura agreed. Her eyes found Tai on the crowded dance floor, his arm wrapped tightly around the silk waist of Kisa's wedding gown. He looked genuinely happy for once. The always quiet, always deep-in-thought Tai had actually been sociable and smiling the entire night. It was so out-of-character for him that Sakura could hardly believe he was the same person. Her children were growing up far too fast. She took another sip of her champagne.

"Although you can't really blame my lovely Kisa for falling for an Uchiha man," Ino rambled, shrugging slightly. "I mean, they're all attractive, even though Tai _does _resemble _you." _

"Hey!" Sakura protested, but before she had a chance say anything else, Leiji broke in, rolling her eyes.

"Oh please, mom. We all know we look like dad, we all know we're attractive, and we all know that," she glanced down at her nearly empty champagne glass and held it out for Hachi take, "I should probably stop drinking before I embarrass myself further."

"Well, isn't this fun?" Hachi snickered as he plucked the glass from her hand and finished it off for her.

"Uncle Kyo!" Sango cried as she ran up to the group and came to a skidding stop, grabbing her uncle by the wrist. Her hair had fallen out of the up do Karli had worked so hard on earlier that day and her hair bounced in sweaty curls against her cheeks. "Come dance with me, okay?"

"I thought you were dancing with Haru?" Hideki cut in, raising a brow at her.

Sango only narrowed her eyes at her father and pointed an angry finger to the dance floor, where Haru was dancing with the bride. "He ditched me!" she declared and pulled on Kyo's wrist. "Come on!"

"All right, all right," Kyo groaned as he allowed himself to be dragged out onto the floor. The rest of the Uchiha's watched the scene silently, inwardly agreeing with Leiji – they really _were _boring compared to Kisa's side of the family.

"I can't believe Kyo didn't bother bringing a date to this," Hideki commented, rolling his eyes.

"Well he wouldn't," Leiji said simply. "Because he's gay." She raised a brow at the odd look her parents were giving her. "Oh come on, I can't be only one who's always thought he'd turn out gay."

"You're not," Hideki piped up. "That kid's so deep in the closet-."

"More like deep in the on-call room," Sakura muttered, shaking her head. "Trust me, you two, he is _not _gay."

"How do you know that?" Hideki challenged. "He could just be good at hiding it."

"He's not gay," Sasuke put in, staring down at his own champagne. He was starting to get the feeling that he would need something much stronger by the end of the night. "Your mother and I found him in an on-call room the other day with one of the nurses. Turns out he's been messing around with them. All of them." He downed the champagne and sighed.

"_All _of them?" Leiji and Hideki cried in unison.

"All of them," Sakura confirmed and pointed Sasuke in the direction of the open bar. "I did a little snooping around and…it's very, _very _true."

"Huh," Leiji said absently, watching as Kyo playfully moved with Sango on the dance floor. "I never pegged Kyo as the sexual deviant of the family."

"Yeah, 'cause that's my title!" Hideki cried defensively and stormed out to the dance floor.

Leiji and Karli stood side-by-side, watching with raised brows as Hideki approached Kyo. Disinterested with the situation, Leiji turned her eyes to Karli. "So. Twins, huh?"

"Yep," Karli confirmed absently, taking a sip of water, wishing for once that she could have some champagne herself.

On the dance floor, Hideki stormed up to Kyo and pulled Sango away from him, pointing an accusing finger in his brother's face. "You stole my crown!"

"What?" Kyo asked, giving his brother an odd look.

"I am the sexual deviant of the family!" Hideki cried, jerking his thumb to point at his chest. "Not you!"

"Daddy, what's a sexual deviant?" Sango asked innocently.

Completely ignoring Sango's question, Hideki continued to rant. "You've been with all the nurses at the hospital? Dude, there's like forty of them!"

"Forty-two of them, actually," Kyo corrected with a superior smirk. "And I've been with all but _one _thanks to mom and dad."

"Some of them are married!" Hideki cried.

"That didn't stop 'em," Kyo said, the smirk never leaving his face.

Narrowing his eyes at his brother, Hideki informed him, "I liked you better when you were cute and shy." He took Sango's wrist and started to pull her away. "Come dance with daddy, Sango. Uncle Kyo is _dirty." _

After observing the scene, Leiji rolled her eyes and turned to Karli. "Do you ever stop and think 'Wow, I married that'?"

"I try not to dwell on it," Karli said flatly.

"Well Sasuke," Sakura said a little sadly as they watched the people dance, colored lights washing over them, "Sango's turning into a miniature Leiji, Haru's beating kids up at school, Kyo's practically a nymphomaniac, and three of our children are married. What do you think of that?"

Sasuke paused for a moment, his eyes finding each of his children in the crowd. Leiji - all grown up and smirking down at Haru as she danced with him. Hideki – already a father, and a damn good one, he had to admit. Tai – happier than he's ever been, dancing the night away with his new bride. And then there was Kyo. Well, he could work on Kyo. He turned to Sakura and smirked lightly. "I think I need another drink."

Laughing lightly, Sakura followed after Sasuke to the open bar, taking his hand as they walked. "I couldn't agree more."

**And there you have it! This took SO LONG to write (sorry about that….), but it's done now and that's all that matters! I'll try my best to update sooner next time…promise. Let me know what you guys think! **


	13. Landslide

**So sorry for the wait! School's starting and I moved back onto campus, so it took a while to adjust to everything, BUT I am not stopping! Especially not now! There's only three chapters left…I can't believe it's almost over…**

"_Well I've been afraid of changing_

'_Cause I built my life around you. _

_But time makes you bolder, children get older,_

_I'm getting older too." _

-Stevie Nicks

Within the next six years, a lot of important events happened for the Uchiha family. Kyo finally got married to a nurse named Mei, more commonly known (to Sasuke at least) as the nurse with the purple bra who had her legs wrapped around Kyo in the on-call room. After she had rushed off in embarrassment, Kyo tried his best to win her back, but to no avail. She refused to be persuaded by Kyo's charming ways, which only made Kyo want her more. Eventually, he promised to take her on an actual date, and she had agreed. After a few months of casual dating, Kyo realized he truly had feelings for Mei and their relationship became more serious until one day, the unthinkable happened. Kyo proposed and they had gotten married a year later. Their son, Hiroshi, was three years old and they were anxiously awaiting the arrival of their second child, a girl who they planned to name Mikoto after Sasuke's mother.

Tai and Kisa had had two sons, Ryo, who was five, and Takeshi, who was nearing his first birthday.

Hideki and Karli's twins turned out to be identical boys, Aiden, the intelligent one, and Aki, the troublemaker who somehow always somehow convinced Aiden to go along with his crazy schemes and pranks. Although the boys were only six years old, their progress at the academy was rapid and they were on track to graduate within the next two years.

At twelve years old, Sango and Haru were ready to graduate from the academy and become full-fledged shinobi. Needless to say, they were both excited about the event and Sango bounced up and down giddily next to Haru as they stood in their lines, listening to their sensei make the graduation speech. The teams had already been announced, and Haru and Sango had been placed on the same team, along with Kento, the bully Haru had punched six years before.

After the punch, the bullying had died down slightly, but it had not died out completely. More children had approached him on the playground wanting to play, timidly at first, but soon it had become a daily occurrence. Kento, however, had not been so kind. He continued to keep his distance from "the half-breed", throwing in a few snide remarks here and there. Haru had scowled when it was announced that Kento would become his third teammate, and he instantly knew that he had to become a chuunin as soon as possible to get away from him.

The speech ended and the newly announced genin were permitted to break from their lines and return to their families for a while before meeting up with their assigned sensei for their first mission. Leiji, Hachi, Hideki and Karli stood in a group near the back doors of the of the academy, watching as their children approached, sporting their new leaf village headbands – Haru's on his forehead and Sango's around her hips as a belt.

"Me and Haru are on the same team!" Sango announced with joy as she threw her arms around her father's neck.

"Yeah, with Kento," Haru spat under his breath. Leiji raised a brow at his words as Hachi slung an arm around his son's neck.

"If he needs another black eye, you can always 'accidentally' give one to him during training," Hachi reminded him with a sly smirk.

"Would you stop telling him that?" Leiji muttered, rolling her eyes.

"But he'd deserve it," Sango informed her aunt as she pulled back from her father's hug. Wrinkling her nose, she added, "I don't like him."

"You don't have to like him," Karli said gently, "you just have to get along. For the sake of the team."

"That's right," Hachi agreed, slinging an arm around Leiji's shoulders and smirking down at Haru. "When your mom and I were in our genin squad with Yuki, we were unstoppable! S-rank criminals cowered in fear before us and-."

"You're exaggerating," Leiji interrupted dryly.

"Oh come on, Leiji," Hachi playfully whined. "They were totally buying that!"

"No, we weren't," Haru and Sango replied in unison, causing Karli to giggle lightly and Hideki to smirk down at them.

Rolling her eyes, Leiji placed her hands on both of their heads and nudged them towards the academy. "Go meet your sensei. Enjoy your first mission."

"It's going to be boring!" Sango whined, sticking out her lower lip in a pout. "We're not going to get to do the really cool missions for a long, long time!"

"You'll build up to them," Hideki assured his daughter with a smirk.

"Yeah, you guys don't want the dangerous stuff right off the bat," Hachi added.

"What was your first mission like?" Haru asked, looking up at his father with curious eyes.

Smirking, Hachi put a hand on Haru's head and ruffled his hair. "I'll tell you when you get home tonight. It's a long story involving a snake a very terrified version of your mom."

"That is a flat out lie," Leiji scoffed and motioned towards the door. "Now get going, you two."

-0-

Yusuke Goto stood in an academy classroom, waiting patiently for his newly assigned genin to arrive. He was young, and it was his first time leading a genin squad, a task he was sure he could handle until he saw who had been assigned to him. Suddenly he was responsible for the safety and lives of the Shadow Hokage's two oldest grandchildren, and he wasn't sure if he was up for _that _task. He had heard plenty about the two kids. They were cousins, same age, same birthday. Sango, the girl, was the illegitimate child of Sasuke Uchiha's oldest son, Hideki. The boy had barely been seventeen when the girl was born and he had heard the whispers around the village about his inability to be a parent. He was curious to see how the girl had turned out.

The oldest boy of the Uchiha's grandchildren, Haru, had peaked his interest to say the least. He had heard the whispers about the boy as well, and the things he had been called throughout his academy days, like half-breed, made him curious. The boy was technically a half-breed, after all. Prestigious clans like the Uchiha's and the Hyuuga's were never meant to marry, let alone conceive, and the boy's birth had shocked the village. But out of all these things, the boy's eyes were what interested him most. He had heard the rumors about the red, pupil-less eyes that had turned him into an outcast, and he wanted to see them for himself.

More importantly was the "half-breed's" mother, who had approached him the moment the boy had been assigned to his squad. She had had a simple request for him, and that was to keep the squad away from out-of-village missions. Though he was curious of her reasoning, he didn't dare ask why she would make such a request. She was the head of the ANBU Black Ops, which he hoped to be a part of someday soon, and he did not want to start out on bad terms with her. So he simply agreed to her request, odd as it seemed, and she seemed satisfied enough with his agreement. However, he wasn't going to keep his genin from important missions forever. He figured he would train with them and see where they were at, especially the boy, and if he felt it necessary, they would go on an out-of-village mission whether she liked it or not.

His attention turned to the classroom door as the doorknob turned and his three new genin stepped inside. Sango was the first to step inside and she walked up to her new sensei with a bounce in her step. Her coffee brown curls were pulled back into a tight ponytail and they sprang up and down with every step. She wore a ruffled pink shirt and beamed with excitement as she approached her sensei. She was not at all what he had expected her to be.

Haru followed closely after her. He had heard that the two cousins were nearly inseparable, and judging by the way they stood next to each other, he could tell that that was most definitely true. The boy was also nothing like he expected either. His blood red eyes, which could have been piercing and fierce were instead soft, gentle and focused on the ground. He wondered if the boy had any fight in him at all.

The third and final member of their squad, Kento, followed after them with a slight scowl, muttering something under his breath about being stuck on a team with the "princess" and the "half-breed". His attitude concerned Yusuke, but he supposed it would improve over time. At least he hoped so. He had heard about the infamous punch the boy had taken at the "half-breed's" hands six years prior, and he understood that the boy was somewhat of a bully, but Yusuke intended to make them all get along eventually.

Yusuke took a moment to take in his new squad and sighed. It was going to be a long year. Running a hand through his hair, he faced his squad. "Welcome to the team, guys. I'm your sensei, Yusuke Goto, and it's going to be a long year…"

-0-

A year later, thirteen-year old Haru sat on his living room couch, leaning against its arm as he rested his cheek in the palm of his hand, his red eyes following his father as he paced back and forth in front him.

"So it's the middle of winter," Hachi explained as he paced, "and you and your partner have been trapped in a cave that's been blocked by an avalanche. You've got a shoulder injury and your partner has a severe wound to the stomach and is vomiting blood by the pint. All you've got on you is a tiny flashlight, a couple of matches, and a canteen of frozen water. What do you do?"

Taking a minute to mull over his father's scenario, Haru said, "I couldn't light a fire-."

"Why?" Hachi interrupted.

"Because the smoke would suffocate us," Haru said matter-of-factly. "So we'd have to use the flashlight for light. We wouldn't have water to drink…and there's no food…so all we could do is keep each other warm until someone digs us out."

"And if you do that, you've just killed your partner," Hachi informed his son bluntly as he took a seat next to him.

"What?" Haru asked in surprise. "How?"

"With the injury like the kind your partner has, the cold is important to keeping her alive. It slows down the blood flow and keeps her from losing blood too fast," Hachi explained expertly.

Raising a brow, Haru asked, "When did we establish that my partner was a girl?"

"When this 'scenario' actually happened twenty years ago," Leiji informed him as she leaned against the archway to the kitchen, arms crossed. She turned her gaze to Hachi and rolled her eyes. "You should really come up with fake scenarios that are actually fake."

"That actually…happened?" Haru asked, looking at his father for confirmation.

"Yep," Hachi admitted, sounding a bit sheepish as he placed a hand on the back of his head. "And there's no better way to learn than using real-life experience, doll," he reminded Leiji.

"How did you guys get out?" Haru asked, knitting his brow together in concern.

Hachi shrugged. "The ANBU found us. We were both unconscious by that point thanks to the cold. But they got us to the hospital and fixed my shoulder and sewed up your mom's stomach."

"Thanks for the reminder," Leiji scoffed, unconsciously placing a hand over her upper abdomen, where the injury had taken place.

Rolling his eyes, Hachi said, "All right, all right, that scenario's been spoiled. I'll come up with a new one. A _fake _one this time." Tapping a finger on his chin, Hachi began, "So let's say that you-."

An urgent knocking on the door interrupted Hachi from his spiel and, after quietly questioning who would be stopping by so late at night, he got up and opened the door to find his sister standing there with dried tear tracks glistening on her cheeks. Blinking, he took Sumomo's wrist and pulled her into the apartment, glancing back at Leiji and Haru as if they could answer why she was there in such a state.

"Sumomo…" Hachi began slowly as he shut the door behind her, "what's wrong?"

"Um," Sumomo began, wiping at her eyes with the palm of her hand, "apparently dad thinks it's unacceptable for a twenty-eight year old girl to not be married so he decided to…to…set up an arranged marriage for me…" As she spoke, her lower lip began to tremble slightly and a few fresh tears slid down her cheeks. "I don't want to get married!" she cried, burying her face in her face.

"That bastard," Hachi muttered under his breath as he pulled her into a hug. He cast a glance at Leiji as she went into the bathroom to get a warm washcloth for her. "Father will try to control your life forever the longer you stay in that damn place."

"Hachi," Sumomo murmured as she returned his hug, "can I…stay here for a day or two?" She pulled back from her brother's embrace as Leiji returned with the washcloth and took it gratefully, dabbing at her eyes carefully. "I can't be around dad right now."

"What are you guys talking about?" Haru asked slowly, glancing between his father and his aunt.

Leiji and Hachi both visibly stiffened at their son's question and they turned to look at each other, searching for a way to explain that, throughout his entire life, neither had been able to bring themselves to tell him about his other grandfather. Sumomo eyed the scene with confusion as she glanced between the two, unaware of the secret they had been keeping from their son.

"Haru," Hachi began slowly, but Haru was no fool, and he rose abruptly from his seat on the couch with a hard look.

"I had another grandpa?" He exclaimed angrily, glaring between his parents. "And neither of you even bothered to tell me?!"

"Haru," Leiji tried, holding up her hands in an attempt to calm him,"let us explain-."

"You've been _lying _to me!" Haru cried. "All of this time you've been lying?"

"We haven't been lying," Hachi cut in before Haru's rant could get worse. "It just…hasn't come up."

"Hasn't come up?!" Haru cried, giving his parents an incredulous look. "This is _family!" _He thrust a finger towards Hachi with a scowl. "Your dad!"

"Haru!" Hachi said sharply, narrowing his eyes. "There is a reason why-."

"I don't want to hear it!" Haru nearly shouted before turning abruptly on his heel and storming into his room, slamming the door behind him.

"You really didn't tell him about dad?" Sumomo asked quietly after a few moments had passed.

Frowning, Hachi let out a small sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "I made it perfectly clear to father that he was to have no part in Haru's life."

"That doesn't mean that he couldn't at least know about him," Sumomo pointed out, twisting the washcloth in her hands.

"We figured it'd be easier if he just didn't know he existed," Leiji explained, leaning against the wall with a sigh. "So much for that."

"Maybe you should talk to him…" Sumomo suggested quietly, glancing down at her feet.

"He needs a chance to calm down before he'll listen. He has a certain someone's temper," Hachi said with a light smirk, motioning towards Leiji.

"Hey!" Leiji protested, giving Hachi a hard look. Sighing heavily, she turned her head and glanced down. "It's not like that's the worst thing we've kept from him."

Tilting her head to the side, Sumomo asked, "What do you mean?"

"Are you talking about the seal?" Hachi questioned, raising a brow at Leiji. "Why should you be worried about that?"

"What seal?" Sumomo asked, glancing between them.

Frowning slightly, Hachi turned to Sumomo. "When Haru was three, we discovered that he had inherited a special dojutsu…we found out he had the ability to, well, essentially worm his way into a person's mind and completely take it over."

"_What?!_" Sumomo cried, eyes widening in alarm.

"Shh," Leiji cautioned, glancing towards Haru's door. "It's a rare and powerful ability, and we have no idea how it works. There was no way we could've taught a three-year old to control it, so we chose to have it sealed."

"How come nobody knows about this?" Sumomo asked, knitting her brows together.

"If anyone were to know," Hachi explained, "it could easily put him in danger. Other villages would want study the ability, to posses it themselves…and we didn't want to risk that. When we had it sealed, it was decided that the information about it would be top secret. No one can know about this, Sumomo." He turned to glance at Leiji. "But why are you so concerned?"

"Because the seal's ten years old," Leiji scoffed. "It's old. It could break."

"Tsunade assured us it would hold," Hachi assured her.

"Well Tsunade isn't exactly around anymore to fix it if it were to break," Leiji reminded him, giving him a hard look.

"Does…he know he has this ability?" Sumomo cut in, hoping to calm one of their 'fights' before it could start.

Leiji paused. "No."

"But shouldn't he?" Sumomo pressed.

"Let's just deal with the whole 'long-lost grandfather' thing for right now," Hachi said with a sigh. "Besides, so long as the seal holds, he doesn't need to know about it. And it _will _hold. Now, let's see if he's ready to hear about my father." With Leiji and Sumomo trailing behind him, Hachi walked up to Haru's door and knocked. After waiting a few minutes with no response, he sighed and said, "C'mon, Haru. You have to talk to us." Silence. Hachi reached for the doorknob and found it locked. "Stubborn," he muttered under his breath as he reached above the doorframe for the skeleton key. Once he had unlocked the door, he pushed it open and peered inside, smirking slightly at the empty room and the open room. "Well. That little weasel."

"Should we go out and find him?" Sumomo asked, concerned.

"No," Leiji replied, rolling her eyes. "It isn't hard to guess where he went. He'll be back soon enough." Clapping a hand on Sumomo's back, she started walking back towards the living room. "Now, let's get you set up on the couch."

-0-

With a scowl set firmly on his face, Haru trudged throughout the village, his hands shoved in his pockets as he walked. Aside from his parents, there was only one person in the whole village he went to with his problems and that person was, of course, Sango. As he approached the house, he discovered Sango's window was dark and deepened the scowl on his face. Normally in this situation, Haru would simply go home and talk to Sango in the morning, but this was a special case.

Standing beneath her second story window, Haru scooped a few pebbles up from the grass and tossed them one-by-one at her window until her light came on. He crossed his arms as the window slid open and Sango stuck her head out, narrowing her eyes at her visitor.

"You know," she called down at him," usually when someone throws rocks at a girl's window at night, it's a cute boy. Instead I get you."

Rolling his eyes, Haru leapt onto the roof and squatted beside her window. "Would you get your mind off boys for five minutes? I've got an actual problem here."

"Fine, fine," Sango sighed, stepping aside to let him in, "what is it?"

Haru planted his feet on the floor and leaned against the wall with a heavy sigh. "I have a grandfather."

Blinking in confusion, Sango tilted her head to the side and said, "Well duh. Papa's _both _of our grandpas. Remember?"

"I meant I have _another _one," Haru rephrased, rolling his eyes.

Sango paused. "You…do?"

Nodding, Haru pulled a hand through his hair and sighed. "Yeah, my aunt Sumomo came in and started talking about him." Glancing down at his feet, he muttered, "I always knew gramma wore a wedding ring, but I just thought he died or something, so I never asked…"

"So," Sango began slowly, trying to piece this together, "aunt Leiji and uncle Hachi never told you about him?"

"No," Haru spat bitterly. "They never bothered to mention him."

"Why?" Sango asked, knitting her brow together in confusion.

"I don't know," Haru said, frustrated. "But…I'm going to find him."

"Haru," Sango began, frowning slightly, "if aunt Leiji and uncle Hachi never told you about him, it was probably for a reason. What if he's a really bad guy?"

"Why would my gramma be married to a 'really bad guy'?" Haru challenged, narrowing his eyes. "Besides, if aunt Sumomo still lives with him, he can't be that bad because she's always happy."

"But finding him might be a bad idea still," Sango countered.

"I won't know until I try," Haru scoffed, kicking his foot lightly against the carpet. "I _want _to know why I've never met him."

"Yeah, but-," Sango started but was interrupted as her phone began buzzing on her nightstand at the same time Haru's went off in his pocket.

Opening their phones together, they glanced at their screens and sighed in unison.

"A mission…great," Haru scoffed.

"It's got to be a big one since it's so late," Sango pointed out as she set her phone back down. "We'd better go see sensei."

"Yeah," Haru agreed simply as he pushed his phone back into his pocket. "Let's get this over with."

-0-

When Haru stepped grudgingly back into the apartment, Leiji and Hachi were seated on the couch watching something on the television with Sumomo resting her head on Hachi's shoulder, half-asleep. He attempted to walk past them without instigating any kind of conversation, but stopped in his tracks with a sigh when his mother glanced up and raised a brow at him.

"Nice to see you've decided to join us again."

"I'm only here because I have a mission," Haru informed her bitterly.

"This late?" Hachi asked, ignoring his son's attitude. "What's the mission?"

"Escorting some nobleman to the Grass Village," Haru said simply as he disappeared into his room and began shoving clothes into his duffel bag. "Finally get an out-of-village mission," he muttered under his breath as he packed.

Leiji perked up at the mission and frowned slightly. "He's leaving the village?"

"It's about time," Hachi said calmly, as he leaned back against the couch, careful not to wake Sumomo on his shoulder. "It's been a year already. We were going out of the village within weeks of becoming genin."

"Yeah, but," Leiji began, pausing when Haru came out of his room, scowling, and wordlessly threw open the front door, slamming it behind him, "I specifically ordered his sensei not to take out-of-village missions for them."

"Why not?" Hachi asked, furrowing his brows. "And why didn't you tell _me _about that?"

Glancing away, Leiji bit her lip and muttered, "Look I'm just worried about that seal…"

"The seal is _fine_," Hachi said, almost exasperated. "Quit worrying about it. He's not going to find out about it, and it's not going to break."

"You don't know that," Leiji shot back, narrowing her eyes. "Seals do break."

"Weak seals break," Hachi corrected her. "Kakashi and Tsunade placed that seal on him themselves. It is anything but weak."

"It's ten years old," Leiji reminded him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Its age doesn't matter," Hachi countered. "There's no need to worry about the seal, and there's no need to worry about Haru. He can handle himself on a simple escort mission."

Sighing in defeat, Leiji curled her legs underneath her and shifted to rest her head on Hachi's free shoulder. "You better be right about that, Hachi."

**So close to being over…so close…I can't believe it. Hope you guys enjoyed this one! And once again sorry it took so long… I'll be faster next time, promise! Don't forget to review! **


	14. Teach Your Children

**Once again, sorry for the long wait… School, school, school…but I haven't left you guys! Only two chapters left and I guarantee I'll be finished by Christmas! For now though, enjoy the second to last chapter! **

"_Teach your children well,_

_Their father's hell did slowly go by,_

_And feed them on your dreams,_

_The one they picked, the one you'll know by…"_

-Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

"Will you calm down?" Hachi asked from the couch as he watched his wife pace the floor, staring down at the ground as if she were deep in thought. Haru had been on his mission for less than twenty-four hours, and Leiji had become more and more of a nervous wreck since he left. "Seriously doll, you're wearing a track in the carpet."

Leiji cast a side-glare towards Hachi and continued her trek. "Something's wrong. I haven't heard from him since he left. He hasn't texted me or anything, Hachi."

Rolling his eyes, Hachi stood and walked over to Leiji, placing his hands on her shoulders to stop her. "Haru's a big boy, Leiji. He doesn't have to text his mommy to check in every five minutes."

Crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes at her husband, Leiji said, "He always does, though. Something's wrong, Hachi. I can feel it."

"You worry too much," Hachi informed her, slinging an arm around her shoulder and leading her to sit on the couch. "It's his first mission out of the village. It's okay to be nervous and all, but this is a bit extreme."

"You're not worried?" Leiji asked, raising a brow.

"Eh, a little," Hachi admitted with a shrug. "But Yusuke's good at what he does. He'll keep an eye on Haru."

"The seal…" Leiji mused, glancing down.

"Why are you so worried about that all of a sudden?" Hachi asked as he stood and disappeared into the kitchen. "I mean," he called from the room, "it's held this long, who says it won't hold for the rest of his life?"

"I don't know," Leiji admitted with a sigh, leaning back against the couch. "It's just been on my mind lately. I mean, what if he finds out your father isn't the only thing we've lied to him about? You saw how angry he was after finding _that _out."

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Which we _won't_," Hachi informed her as he returned with two glasses of wine. "Now would you quit worrying about it and let us just enjoy this very rare alone time we have?" Smirking, he sat beside her and handed her a glass.

"Are you trying to get me drunk so you can get laid?" Leiji asked as she took the glass, sipping at it carefully.

"Damn, you've caught on to my master plan!" Hachi cried dramatically.

Rolling her eyes, Leiji opened her mouth to say something but paused as the sound of someone running rapidly up the stairs radiated into the apartment from the hallway. "What was that?" she asked, setting the glass down and walking towards the door.

"It's probably those twins who live downstairs," Hachi said nonchalantly as he stood, following Leiji to the door. "You know how wild they get."

"It doesn't sound like them," Leiji said as she grasped the doorknob, pulling it open.

In an instant, Sango burst into the apartment, throwing her arms tightly around Hachi's torso as she sobbed. Hachi's eyes widened at the impact and held his hands up in defense to Sango's clinging.

"Uh, hi," he said slowly, blinking as his shirt quickly became wet with tears. "Shouldn't you be on that mission?"

"We came back," Sango hiccupped through her sobs. "Haru…"

"What about him?" Leiji interrupted, narrowing her eyes instantly. "Where _is _he?" She turned on her heel to step out into the hallway but stopped dead in her tracks when Yusuke appeared in the doorway, arms crossed with a hard look set on his features.

"We need to talk," he said darkly.

"About what?" Hachi asked as he attempted to pry Sango off of him. Once he was freed from her grasp, he pulled her back by her shoulders and looked down at her. "What happened to Haru, Sango?"

"H-his eyes…" she stammered, her onyx eyes brimming with tears. "They changed and…and…"

"Go home, Sango," Yusuke interrupted, stepping aside from the doorway. "I can handle this."

After watching Sango sulk out the door, wiping at her tears, Leiji turned to Yusuke and crossed her arms. "Where. Is. My. Son?"

"He's all right," Yusuke assured her, motioning towards the door. "He's waiting in the hall." Giving them both a hard look, Yusuke crossed his arms and shook his head slowly. "You know, I had heard the rumors about Haru having some sort of 'special power', but I never actually believed them. That is until tonight, when the seal holding back whatever it is he has broke loose." Frowning, he glanced between the two of them. "Now, explain what the hell just happened."

Biting her lip, Leiji glanced at Hachi and he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Haru has a rare dojutsu," he explained. "It's the result of the combining of the Byakugan and Sharingan, and only one other person in the records had it. When we found out Haru had this ability too, we decided to have it sealed. It was supposed to hold, but I guess the seal weakened as he got older."

"Told you," Leiji muttered under her breath.

"Did Haru know about any of this?" Yusuke asked.

"No," Leiji admitted with a sigh. "He was too young to remember getting the seal, and we figured it would hold, so we just…didn't say anything."

"Well," Yusuke said, glancing out the door, "he's out there, freaking out."

"What happened to make the seal break?" Hachi asked, glancing at Leiji.

"We were ambushed," Yusuke explained. "Three rain village nin attacked to get the scroll we were carrying. They went for Haru and it just…broke. Two of them suddenly turned against each other, killed each other actually. It was strange, as if they were being controlled. The third one started panicking and retreated. I'm not sure if he was under the control of Haru's ability as well, but he ran off without a word. Haru just stood there. He was shaken up pretty bad, like he knew it was him who did all that."

"Oh my God," Leiji groaned, burying her face in her hands.

Frowning, Hachi placed a hand on her back and glanced at Yusuke. "We'll handle this from here…"

"Right," Yusuke said with a nod. "I need to report this incident to the hokage anyway." Without another word, he turned and left, leaving Leiji and Hachi to stare at each other silently for a moment before heading out into the hall.

Haru sat with his back against the wall, his knees drawn up to his chin as he stared at the opposite wall in silence. The scene replayed over and over in his mind, and he squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in his knees, trying to chase the images away. He had made those men turn on each other. He didn't know how, but he knew he was responsible. When they approached him, he was certain he was going to die, but then something inside him snapped and a well of power he had never felt before overtook him. Everything became fuzzy after that. He remembered Sango screaming and Kento's surprised shout of "What the hell?!", then Yusuke had grabbed him and all but carried him away from the scene.

Out of the corner of his eye, Haru saw his mother squat down next to him and put her hand on his shoulder. He scowled and jerked away from the touch.

"Hey," Leiji started slowly, pulling her hand away gently. "Let's talk about this, Haru. I know that-."

"You knew about this, didn't you?" Haru interrupted, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, yes," Hachi, who had been standing beside Leiji, put in. "But we-."

"And you didn't bother to _tell _me?!" Haru cried, standing suddenly with his hands clenched into fists. "I had this massive power and you didn't even bother to _say _anything?! You just decided that it was _okay _for me not to know?!"

"Haru," Hachi started, holding his hands up in an attempt to quiet him.

"So first you lie to me about not having a grandpa," Haru continued, completely ignoring his father as he walked briskly into the apartment, "and now _this? _What else have you been lying about? Is Haru my real name? Are you even my real parents?!"

"Haru, that is _enough,_" Hachi said sternly. "Calm down so we can actually talk about this."

"How am I supposed to know what's true anymore?" Haru cried, storming into his room and throwing his clothes into a duffel bag. "I mean, I've never seen a picture of mom pregnant with me. I've never seen a picture of me as a newborn baby. You have got _no _proof that _you're _my parents!"

"Haru, please!" Leiji frowned, eyeing his bag with tears beginning to form in her eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to go find this grandpa I never knew I had," Haru growled, slinging the bag over his shoulder as he stormed to the front door. "_Don't _bother following me." With that said, he walked out the door and slammed it behind him so hard that Leiji and Hachi could hear the dishes in the kitchen cabinet shatter.

"Hachi," Leiji began shakily after a few moments of silence.

"Damn it, we should have told him," Hachi muttered under his breath, pulling Leiji into a tight hug.

"What, that I couldn't carry him to term? That my body basically rejected him? That he was stuck in the NICU for the first three months of his life and almost died on us _twice? _You really want him to know all of that?" Leiji spat, leaning against his chest.

"I think he needs to know," Hachi sighed, resting his cheek on top of her head. "We've been hiding that long enough too."

Leiji frowned. "I had hoped he'd never know about that…"

"Well he's going to have to know," Hachi said, pulling back from her gently. "For now, let's just let him calm down. I'll let my mom know he's on his way over." He pulled out his cell phone and sent a quick text to Tenten, then looked up as someone knocked on the front door.

Frowning, Leiji walked to the entryway and opened the door carefully, sighing when she saw Naruto standing in the hall, a sheepish grin on his face. "Don't tell me…"

"I need Hachi for a mission," Naruto began, clapping a hand on the back of his neck.

"Let me guess," Hachi cut in, walking up next to Leiji and leaning against the wall, "this has to do with what happened with Haru."

"Yeah, about that third rain nin who got away," Naruto said, "I need you to hunt him down and kill him. We can't risk having that kind of information leaked."

"But that's ANBU work," Leiji put in.

"I know," Naruto replied with a shrug. "I've got two of your ANBU set up to go with him." He glanced at Leiji and smirked lightly, "Don't worry, okay? We're not letting this information go anywhere."

"You better be serious about that," Leiji said with narrowed eyes. "My kid doesn't need to be a target."

Rolling his eyes, Hachi cupped her cheeks and placed a quick kiss on her lips. "will you be okay on your own?"

"I'll be fine," Leiji assured him, glancing away with a sigh.

"All right. I'll be back soon, doll." Giving her a quick smirk, he turned and left with Naruto.

**Sorry for the shortness of the chapter, but the next (and last) one will be much longer, I promise! I hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to review! **


	15. Ghosts That We Knew

***peeks out from behind a corner* Hi….anyone still there? …..Anyone? **

***crickets chirping***

***sweatdrop***

"_So give me hope in the darkness, that I will see the light_

_Cause, oh, they gave me such a fright_

_But I will hold as long as you like_

_Just promise me that we'll be all right."_

-Mumford and Sons

Sasuke walked along the dark streets, illuminated by the light of the streetlamps. The day had been going surprisingly well until Yusuke had burst into Naruto's office and began explaining what had happened on his grandson's mission. Since then he had to go over mission reports, issue a second mission to track down the escaped nin and alert the elder's of the seal breaking, which they were not happy to hear about. Now he had to inform Leiji and Hachi that the elders had decided to give Haru the option to either learn to use the jutsu with complete control or have it resealed.

As Sasuke walked along the streets, he caught the sound of a familiar voice floating out from inside a bar and paused, waiting to see if he would hear it again. Curiosity getting the better of him, Sasuke poked his head inside the bar and frowned when he saw a flash of very familiar raven hair. Stepping inside, he strolled up to the woman sitting at the end of the bar and took her arm gently. "Leiji?"

"Hiya, dad," Leiji slurred, leaning drunkenly to one side as she turned to face her father. "What's going on?"

Sasuke wrinkled his nose at the scent of tequila hanging heavily around her. "Leiji, you're drunk."

"Why, yes I am," Leiji agreed, bobbing her head slightly. "So gloriously drunk."

Shaking his head slowly, Sasuke pulled his daughter's arm in an attempt to get her on her feet. "Come on, I'm taking you home."

"No," Leiji spat, jerking her arm away, "There's no point, no one's there."

"Leiji," Sasuke sighed and took the vacant stool beside her, "you have never been this drunk before."

"I know," Leiji mused, her eyes widening as she leaned back slightly in her chair. "Why doesn't everyone do this?" She reached for the nearly empty glass of tequila in front of her and took a swig.

"Stop that," Sasuke snapped, snatching the glass away from her. "Drinking does not solve your problems."

"Well it's been doing a great job so far!" Leiji retorted, trying to grab the glass back childishly.

"That's the alcohol talking," Sasuke informed her, holding the glass easily out of her reach. "In the morning you'll be sober and this issue will still be here. Where is Haru, Leiji?"

"Gone," Leiji replied, her face falling as she looked down at her lap.

"Gone?" Sasuke frowned, taking her chin in his hand and tilting her head up to look at him. "Where did he go, Leiji? This is important."

"To go be with Neji." Leiji pulled her face out of Sasuke's gentle grip and slumped against the bar, her lips set in a deep frown as she stared at a spot above Sasuke's shoulder. "He decided he'd rather live with someone he never even _met _instead of with us liars…"

Sasuke sighed. "You are not a liar."

"Oh, yes I am," Leiji scoffed, motioning for the bartender to pour her another drink. "I've only been lying to him his whole life. We lied about Neji, we lied about the dojutsu, we lied about Santa Claus, we lied about where babies come from-."

"Leiji, that's enough." Sasuke held up his hand to stop her ranting then turned a hard glare on the bartender who held his hands up in defense.

"I was going to cut her off anyway," he said before going back to his more sober customers.

Frowning, Sasuke turned back to his daughter. "You're being way too hard on yourself."

After a moment of silence, Leiji turned her gaze to her lap and sniffed. "What happened to me? I didn't want to be a mom. I didn't think I'd ever even get married. I don't know what happened…"

"Nothing happened, Leiji," Sasuke sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You just grew up. Too fast, if you ask me. Now come on, let me take you home."

"I don't want to go home," Leiji repeated, her gaze hardening. "There's no one there. You sent Hachi on that damn mission, and Haru went to be with that damn Neji." Suddenly a look of drunken determination crossed her features and she stood, wobbling slightly on her feet. "I should give that bastard a piece of my mind!"

"Sit down," Sasuke hissed, grabbing her arm and pulling her back into her seat. "You're making a fool of yourself."

"I am not!" Leiji whined, her anger growing. "What gives him the right to take _my _son away from me?!"

Sighing heavily, Sasuke stood and lifted Leiji out of her chair, throwing her over his shoulder and heading for the door. "We're leaving. I'm not going to let you embarrass yourself further."

"Put me down!" Leiji cried, propping herself up on her elbows in an attempt to raise herself up. "_This _is embarrassing, put me down!"

Rolling his eyes, Sasuke placed her carefully on her feet once they reached the streets. "Now come on, we're going home."

"I don't _want-." _

"You're going to your _home _home, Leiji," Sasuke interrupted, quickly becoming fed up with her attitude, "with your mother and I. Now walk."

"Hn." Leiji crossed her arms in defiance and stumbled along beside Sasuke, who only rolled his eyes and grabbed her arm for support.

"I can't believe you did this, Leiji."

"I can't believe home is so far away!" Leiji cried in astonishment. "Are we there yet?"

Shaking his head slowly, Sasuke led her through the emptying streets until they reached the original Uchiha home, which was once full to capacity with children, but now held only two occupants. He helped her through the door and motioned her to the couch. "Go sit, I'll get you some water."

Sulking, Leiji walked to the couch and sat down harder than she intended, leaning back against the back her arms crossed. When Sasuke brought her the water, she swiped it from his hand with a hard look and drank it quickly, leering at him over the rim of the glass.

"Don't give me that look," Sasuke rolled his eyes and glanced over his shoulder as Sakura walked in from her office.

"What's Leiji doing here?" she asked, eying Leiji's red eyes and mussed hair curiously.

"She's wasted," Sasuke replied simply. "Haru got angry and went to stay with Neji, and Hachi had to leave on a mission…"

"Oh," Sakura sighed and took a seat beside Leiji, placing a hand on her arm. "Come on honey, let's go to bed. It's late."

Scowling, Leiji jerked away from her mother's touch. "I don't want to go to bed. There's no place for me to sleep here."

"What are you talking about?" Sakura frowned. "Your room is still upstairs. You can sleep there."

"It's not my room anymore," Leiji murmured, her eyes drooping slightly from the alcohol. "It's Sango's."

"Fine then, sleep in one of the other rooms," Sasuke said with a shrug. "Or sleep on the couch. It's up to you."

"Couch," Leiji replied stubbornly, leaning to her side onto she fell onto the throw pillows and closed her eyes.

Sighing, Sasuke shook his head slowly and picked up her empty glass before going into the kitchen with Sakura trailing behind him. "I'll let Hachi know she's here. He shouldn't be gone that long."

Sakura frowned. "She's really upset, Sasuke. I've never seen her like this before."

"She has a lot on her plate, Sakura," he sighed and leaned against the counter, pulling out his cell phone and sending Hachi a quick text message. "Just let her sleep for now. Hachi will get her in the morning, they'll get Haru back, and she'll be fine."

"You make it sound so easy," Sakura mused, glancing into the living room where Leiji slept deeply, her head turned towards the back of the couch and breathing evenly. "I just hope she'll be all right."

"She will be," Sasuke assured her. "You worry too much."

"I can't help it," Sakura replied, a light smirk playing at her lips. "It's a mother's job."

-0-

When Leiji cracked open her stinging eyes the next morning, her hazy vision greeted her with the sight of Hachi, giving her an amused smirk. "What are you doing?" she groaned, closing her eyes against the headache beginning to radiate its way through her temples.

"I just came to wake you up with some water, coffee, and a whole bunch of aspirin," Hachi replied with a smirk. "How did your night go?"

"Shut up," Leiji growled as she struggled to pull herself into a sitting position. "You know how my night went." Once she was fully righted, she swiped the water from Hachi's hand and popped the aspirin into her mouth. "I'm more concerned about your night…"

Hachi softened, placing a hand gently on her shoulder. "We got him," he assured her. "Haru's secret is safe. I talked to my mom too. She said he was up all night talking with my father."

"Wonderful," Leiji murmured, swinging her legs over the side of the couch and reaching for the mug of coffee. "That's the last thing we need."

"I don't even want to know what lies my father is telling him," Hachi sighed. "Do you feel up for going over there now and bringing him home?"

Leiji sipped her coffee carefully, staring into the deep blackness of the mug. Her father had made the coffee. She didn't know how, but she could tell. He must have been worried about her, especially after the stunt she had pulled the night before. The always stoic Uchiha Sasuke didn't seem like a worrier, but didn't all fathers worry about their children sometimes? Even someone like Hyuuga Neji?

"Yes," she said after a few moments of careful consideration. "But let's stop at home first. There's something I want to get."

-0-

Two hours later, Leiji, freshly showered to rid herself of the smell of alcohol and sporting a pair of dark Coach sunglasses to hide the evidence, walked beside Hachi on the way to the Hyuuga compound, carrying an old shoebox under her arm.

"Are you sure about this?" Hachi asked, his eyes casting nervous glances at the box. "Do you really think he should see this stuff?"

"Yes," Leiji replied matter-of-factly. "It's time for us to stop hiding things from him. He needs to know the truth. All of it."

"All right," Hachi said, still sounding a little unsure. "He might be pretty upset. This is some pretty heavy stuff."

"I don't care," Leiji said simply, and they entered into the Hyuuga compound together. She always felt unwelcome stepping on to these grounds, and today was no exception. She felt the eyes of Hachi's relatives boring into her back as they walked, and she felt the familiar wave of relief wash over her as they stepped onto the porch of Neji and Tenten's home. Being a nonmember of the Hyuuga family as well, Tenten always succeeded in making Leiji feel welcome on the property.

She was waiting in the doorway for them, a light smile touching her features as she motioned towards the back door. "They're on the porch. They've been talking all night."

"Is he all right?" Hachi asked, craning his neck to try and see them through the window.

"Of course he is," Tenten assured them. "Your father is not a monster, Hachi."

Without waiting for Hachi, Leiji walked through the house and slid open the door that led to the porch. Haru turned his head at the sound and frowned, crossing his arms over his chest and turning his head away. But Neji, sensing that Leiji wanted to talk, stood quietly and walked past her into the house. As Hachi tried to brush past him, Neji placed his hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"You've done well raising him," Neji murmured before letting go and walking into the next room.

Hachi paused for a moment, allowing his father's words to sink in before looking down at his feet, making his way slowly out to the back porch, where Leiji had taken a seat next to Haru. Silently, Hachi lowered himself to sit at his son's other side.

"There are some things you should know," Leiji began, placing the shoebox on her lap and running her finger along the lid. She stared down at it for a moment before sighing and slowly pulling the lid off, raising a small plume of dust.

Haru cast a side glance at the box, curious but still angry. His eyes followed his mother's hands as she reached into the box and pulled out a single photograph. She stared at it for a moment, biting her lip before handing it over to Haru.

"This is me," she said quietly, "pregnant. With you."

Haru took the picture, still staying silent and stared down at it. It was obviously taken by surprise, for Leiji wasn't even looking at the camera. She was laying in bed, a light blanket draped around her shoulders with an exhausted look in her eyes as she stared down at a book in her lap. The swollen mound of her stomach indicated that she really was pregnant.

"I was so sick," Leiji explained quietly, "I was put on bed rest. I was so weak I couldn't stand for long. All I could do was just lay around in bed…"

"She didn't want any pictures taken of her during it," Hachi continued, looking down at the picture in Haru's hand, "but I snuck that one in when she wasn't paying attention."

Haru frowned, shifting slightly at his stared down at this new piece of information. "But what about-?"

"Here," Leiji sighed, handing another photograph to him. "That's you, right after you were born."

Haru's brow wrinkled in confusion, staring down at the photograph of a tiny, translucent-skinned infant surrounded by machines. Various tubes and wires were stuck all over the infant's body and his eyes appeared to be glued shut. "What…?" he turned his head up, looking to Leiji for answers.

"You were born thirteen weeks early," she said, staring down into the box. "We were so scared for you…you were in the hospital for three months. Your heart…"

Hachi frowned and reached over Haru to place a hand on her knee. "It stopped twice while you were there," he continued. "You actually have a patch on your heart from it…"

"I do?" Haru asked, looking down at his chest with a frown.

"Yes," Leiji frowned, raising a hand and placing it over his heart. "The doctors didn't think you were going to make it…but you beat the odds."

Haru looked back down at the pictures in his hands, feeling tears stinging at his eyes. "What else is in that box?"

A light smirk touched Leiji's lips and she reached into the box again, pulling out a faded orange scrap of fabric. "This is what's left of your baby blanket," she said, running her fingers over the fabric before passing it to Haru. "You wouldn't go anywhere without it."

"But then one day your mom put it in the dryer after washing it," Hachi added with a snicker. "You'd worn it out so much that the dryer just ripped it to shreds. You were so upset you cried for days!"

"I-I did not!" Haru stuttered, his face flushing slightly as he looked down at the scrap and tried to recall the memories.

"You did," Leiji confirmed as she reached into the box again and pulled out an old teething ring with a few of the water bubbles popped. "This is from when you were teething," she said, her smirk becoming more prominent now. "Your teeth were so sharp that you broke through the rubber on this thing in three places."

"That was the _worst!_" Hachi went on. "Your teeth hurt you so bad you screamed all night and day, and you wouldn't let anyone but your mommy hold you!"

Rolling her eyes, Leiji reached into the box and pulled out a light blue pacifier with a little brown dog on it. "This was the only pacifier you would ever use. We bought you a ton, but for some reason, this is the only one you liked."

Curious, Haru took the pacifier from her, turning it over in his hands and examining it carefully. He noted nothing extravagant about it, nothing that would make him favor this pacifier over others, but for some reason the color appealed to him. He paused and closed his fingers around it, looking back up at his mother. "Why did you keep all this stuff?"

"Because these things were important to you," Leiji replied with a shrug. "I couldn't just bring myself to throw them away."

After a moment of quiet contemplation, staring down at the items in his lap, Haru muttered, "Thanks, mom…"

Leiji placed a hand on his shoulder, squeezing lightly. "You're welcome."

"Feeling better, mini-me?" Hachi asked with a smirk.

"Yeah," Haru nodded, carefully placing the items back into the shoebox. "Sorry I ran away like that, but" he hesitated, staring down at his feet, "can I see grandpa more?"

Hachi hesitated, glancing back into the house and catching a glimpse of Neji standing in the hallway with Tenten. Sighing, he turned back to his son. "Yeah, mini-me, you can. I shouldn't have tried to keep you away from him. I guess I just-."

"It's okay," Haru interrupted. "Grandpa told me everything. He said it was mostly his fault you didn't tell me about him. He said he was really sorry."

"Did he?" Hachi mused, glancing back into the house and catching Neji's eye, who gave him a light smirk. Turning back to Haru, he placed an arm over his shoulder, suddenly turning serious. "There's one more thing, mini-me."

Haru's face fell, suddenly feeling the worst. "What?"

Leiji sighed. "The elders know about your seal breaking, Haru. They want you to make….a decision."

"What kind of decision?" Haru asked suspiciously.

"Well, you have two choices," Hachi began. "You can either have the seal put back on, or you can learn to use it, to fight with it…the elders seem to think it would be an excellent asset to the village."

Haru frowned, staring down at the objects in her hands. "But…I made those guys kill each other. I didn't even do anything. I just _thought _about it and it…it happened. I don't want to be able to do that…"

"So you think you want to get it sealed again?" Leiji asked, and when Haru nodded she added, "It'll hurt. A lot."

"I don't care," Haru replied, pushing his palm into the middle of his forehead. "What I can do can really hurt people…I don't want that kind of power. So, I want to get it sealed, and fast."

"All right," Leiji agreed, breathing a sigh of relief. "I'll let the elders know then."

"Well what do you know," Hachi smirked. "It seems that all is right with the world!"

"Dramatic as always," Leiji muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes as she stood.

"I'm just trying to spice things up!" Hachi defended himself, standing as well and pulling Haru to his feet. "Come on, mini-me, let's go home!"

"Okay," Haru agreed, a smile touching at his lips as he hugged the shoebox to his chest. And as he walked between his parents on the path home, he really did feel like all was right with the world.

**And there you have it! Finally the series ends! I'm really going to miss writing this… But I hope everyone enjoyed! I'll continue to update "Piece by Piece" as I randomly get inspired (which happens a lot), so keep checking there for more of the next generation of Uchiha's! **

**As always, you guys are awesome. Thank you for supporting me through this (longer than intended) project. Your reviews really encouraged me to just keep writing!**

**You're the best! **


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